I love it when I stumble on to shit like this! A drunken night rummaging through the interwebs looking for something to jam on led me to this little lovely. This right here is prime, grade-a, cellar dwelling fuzzed fucked filth. This sublime cluster fuck of blackend crust doom punk and closet production comes courtesy of New Hampshire trio Ramlord. First off, sweet fucking name fellas! Secondly, sweet fucking riffs! Their din is reminiscent of acts like From Ashes Rise, Tragedy/His Hero Is Gone (especially in the vocal department), Disrupt, Perth Express, Noothgrush and even some Buzzov*en. My first listen was in the form of there new split with Dallas Texas' Cara Neir. A single 10 minute track of sheer disgust and brute force. Starting off with a dire two minute plus doomed out death march, Affliction of Clairvoyance erupts in a ferocious d-beat maelstrom just to bring it back to a crawl. Then amping it up again into a torrential black metal inspired crescendo . It's pretty awesome. Then came the four song 7 minute piss in the eye of their split with Condensed Flesh. Released last year, this side of Ramlord sees them deliver the the good in no frills all thrills fashion. It's crusty as fuck and straight to the point. It too is pretty awesome. The only fault that I can find with these recording lies within Affliction. While I love the grime the production (or lack there of) provides, the drum sound on this track bothers me at times. I gotta say that the snare sounds like it was recorded at the bottom of a well. Oh well. See what I did there.. Even with that one minor criticism, Ramlord are one hell of a band. I will be watching these guys closely.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Psudoku- Space Grind (2011)
Rob keeps telling me that a) he's not dead and b) he's going to post something eventually. I don't believe him on either account.
Trondheim, Norway's Psudoku is the brainchild of Papirmøllen, who is also the man behind the anarcho-grindcore assault that is Parlamentarisk Sodomi (who happen to have cartoon dicks on most of their record covers, but I digress). However, unlike the hardcore-rooted Parlamentarisk Sodomi, Psudoku isn't so much rooted in anything, more like blasting through intergalactic space at a pace approaching the speed of light. There's only one thing I've ever heard that sounds even remotely similar to Space Grind and that is East West Blast Test. Yeah, when I compare a band to one featuring two of my musical idols (Dave Witte and Chris Dodge) that's a pretty gnarly endorsement. If you've heard the East West Blast Test records you should have some idea what to expect, completely weird, avant-garde, perhaps even jazz-influence grindcore. But, no offence to two of my favorite musicians, this album blows both of theirs out of the water. Why? The goddamn riffs. I don't want to call the guitar work on this album "riffage" or "shredding" as either would be an insult. The guitar work on this album is riff-craft. It's a fucking work of art. It's some of the most precise grindcore riffing I've heard since The Inalienable Dreamless. Oh, and Scott Hull should watch out, because Papirmøllen is looking to usurp the throne as the best drum programmer in grind.
One of my favorite grindcore records ever. Don't sleep on it.
Trondheim, Norway's Psudoku is the brainchild of Papirmøllen, who is also the man behind the anarcho-grindcore assault that is Parlamentarisk Sodomi (who happen to have cartoon dicks on most of their record covers, but I digress). However, unlike the hardcore-rooted Parlamentarisk Sodomi, Psudoku isn't so much rooted in anything, more like blasting through intergalactic space at a pace approaching the speed of light. There's only one thing I've ever heard that sounds even remotely similar to Space Grind and that is East West Blast Test. Yeah, when I compare a band to one featuring two of my musical idols (Dave Witte and Chris Dodge) that's a pretty gnarly endorsement. If you've heard the East West Blast Test records you should have some idea what to expect, completely weird, avant-garde, perhaps even jazz-influence grindcore. But, no offence to two of my favorite musicians, this album blows both of theirs out of the water. Why? The goddamn riffs. I don't want to call the guitar work on this album "riffage" or "shredding" as either would be an insult. The guitar work on this album is riff-craft. It's a fucking work of art. It's some of the most precise grindcore riffing I've heard since The Inalienable Dreamless. Oh, and Scott Hull should watch out, because Papirmøllen is looking to usurp the throne as the best drum programmer in grind.
One of my favorite grindcore records ever. Don't sleep on it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Belzebong - Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves (2011)
Look at that name. LOOK AT IT. Say it out loud. Feel the way it rolls off the tongue. Did you just chortle? I did the first time I said it out loud too. Not sure I need to do a big writeup on this one, with a name like that you should have a pretty good idea of what you're getting yourself into. Big, riffy, groove-laden, instrumental stoner doom following in the footsteps of the masters. You either love this style of music or it does absolutely nothing for you. Personally, I think this happens to be one of the finest exemplars of the genre since Bongzilla's Gateway.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Vinyl Fetish: Whirr (Whirl)- Distressor EP
Not sure how I missed that this reissue was happening. The original pressing of this Whirr EP (they were known as Whirl at the time) was fraught with issues. I know that a number of people who ordered it from the UK based label it was released on never received their records. I opted not to order it from them based on that fact, so I've been semi-actively looking for a copy at a reasonable price on Discogs for a year now. I go to the Discogs homepage today and voila! a reissue. Comes with all new artwork and two bonus demo tracks. 595 copies pressed, 325 on clear with splatter (ugh, I know, splatter vinyl is fucking lame) and 270 on green/white swirl, which is supposedly exclusive to the Graveface Record Club (also lame). Oh well, at least I'll be able to own one of my favorite EPs in recent memory on vinyl at last
Monday, June 11, 2012
Ajuna- Incomplete Circles Becoming Dead Ends & Perpetual State Of Disbelieve (2011)
Like my compatriot Pat, my tastes in black metal do not ride the rails of convention. Ajuna is not your typical black metal band and therefore perfect for me. Even calling what they do on these albums black metal is almost a misnomer. Asides from the vocals and stylistic flourishes they share more with bands like Slint, Jesus Lizard, and 90's alternative than they do Mayhem or Emperor. The eight songs that comprise Incomplete Circles Becoming Dead Ends & Perpetual State of Disbelieve run the gamut of AmRep / Touch and Go sounds. Jangly, not overly distorted, but dangerous guitar, thunderous Henry Bogdan / David Wm. Sims bass tone, and propulsive drummimg. Yeah you read that right, second post featuring a black metal band where you can hear the bass. The rhythm section in Ajuna drive the hell out of these songs. Absolutely stellar shit here! This band has been on repeat for quite a while now and probably will for the foreseeable future.
Included in the download is their brand new demo Death In The Shape Of Winter. Having listen to it, I can say they have definitely taken a turn for the heavier in the last year. That's not a bad thing at all, but a lot of the AmRepiness that make the first albums so charming and interesting is lost a little bit. I am in no way knocking these songs, hell the video I included is from Death..., they're just different.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - YT//ST (2011)
This one right here took me by surprise for sure. As I'm prone to do, I was surfing around on the superly awesome Brooklyn Vegan site and stumbled across an intriguing picture. It was two women sitting surrounded by drums with Asian opera masks on with a kinda of Ladytron noir vibe going on. The bands name was Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. With that name and the visual aesthetic that was presented to me, lets say I was intrigued. I read further, bands like Sleep, Queen, Qotsa, Ladytron (pegged that one) popped up as comparisons. Holy shit, I like all of those things! Then things like traditional Japanese opera and performance artists popped up. "Dude gotta check this out", I thought to myself. So I did. Let me tell you, this band, group, collective, continual art piece, or whatever you'd like to call them is flat out awesome.
YT//ST is the brainchild of Montreal performance artists Alaska B and Ruby Kato Attwood whose previous project was called Lesbian Fight Club. I know, right! Armed with an incredible sense of design, mad illustration skills, and a huge pile of "junk electronics" Ruby and Alaska wanted to start a project that would combine all of that with their strong cultural identities (both are mixed race). Forming in 2007 they quickly found their direction and started work on the first of their "Noh-Wave" operas." Noh" referring to the Japanese opera format . Through their short homebrewed operas they eventually formed a network of Asian and Indigenous artists that comprise the current collective. Montrealers(?) have had the pleasure of being wowed by YT//ST performances for some time now, now it's the rest of the worlds turn. Set against massive and quite intricate homemade black & white cardboard sets, YT//ST craft a complete experience for their audience. Visually its stunning enough, but throw in the fact that Alaska and Ruby are killer musicians, takes YT//ST over the top. It's gorgeous, other worldly, sludgy, and it rocks. Any other attempts to describe this album musically would not do it justice. Listen to this immediately! Most Definitely a year end contender for me. Yeah, I know it came out last year, but it's new to me!
* I mistakenly identified Noh as a Chinese format when in fact it is Japanese. Thank you, reader.
YT//ST is the brainchild of Montreal performance artists Alaska B and Ruby Kato Attwood whose previous project was called Lesbian Fight Club. I know, right! Armed with an incredible sense of design, mad illustration skills, and a huge pile of "junk electronics" Ruby and Alaska wanted to start a project that would combine all of that with their strong cultural identities (both are mixed race). Forming in 2007 they quickly found their direction and started work on the first of their "Noh-Wave" operas." Noh" referring to the Japanese opera format . Through their short homebrewed operas they eventually formed a network of Asian and Indigenous artists that comprise the current collective. Montrealers(?) have had the pleasure of being wowed by YT//ST performances for some time now, now it's the rest of the worlds turn. Set against massive and quite intricate homemade black & white cardboard sets, YT//ST craft a complete experience for their audience. Visually its stunning enough, but throw in the fact that Alaska and Ruby are killer musicians, takes YT//ST over the top. It's gorgeous, other worldly, sludgy, and it rocks. Any other attempts to describe this album musically would not do it justice. Listen to this immediately! Most Definitely a year end contender for me. Yeah, I know it came out last year, but it's new to me!
* I mistakenly identified Noh as a Chinese format when in fact it is Japanese. Thank you, reader.
Buy it:
* The first pressing of the vinyl is sold out but they should be repressing soon.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Code Orange Kids - Cycles (2011)
When I was eighteen I had no idea what my musical voice was or even how to execute it with any kind of maturity and professionalism. That's obviously not a problem for Code Orange Kids. Fresh out of High School, these guys and gal write and play songs as if they've been doing it forever. Even though it appears seasoned, Cycles still has a very youthful pulse to it. This is definitely not a rehash of the old and tired. It's simple... this E.P. kills. It is violent and filthy, affirming and destructive. Combining Converge and Cursed-esque tones, D-beat feel, and a Spazz/Torche attention span, Code Orange Kids craft an onslaught of hardcore that's pretty "top of the food chain". It's pretty easy to understand this band's relatively meteoric rise through the underground ranks. Look out for their split 7" with Full of Hell coming out on Topshelf Records soon and their full length coming out in the near future through Deathwish Inc. Yep...Jacob already snatched 'em up. That should tell you something.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Smohalla- Resilience (2011)
Help me out here folks, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one. Normally I'm not one for the overly dramatic or super orchestral, but this thing, this collection of noise has drawn me in to its web and won't let me go. I know very little about this fine addition to the French black metal pantheon, except that they write incredibly interesting songs and their name comes from the Shahaptian Indian tribe. Loosely translated the name means dreamer or preacher. Imagine if you will Opeth and Alcest gang banging Mr. Bungle while Deathspell Omega and Trent Reznor spank it in the corner with Davide Tiso providing refreshments. Sounds horrible doesn't it? Well believe it or not, it isn't. It's awesome! Yeah there are definitely some over the top moments of cheesy synth, but the rest of it more than makes up for it. I find it somewhat humorous that a few years ago I couldn't imagine France as a leader in any musical genre. Now they're home to, in my opinion, the best black metal out there right now. Enjoy.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Industries of the Blind- Chapter 1: Had We Known Better (2011)
Presumably none of you out there have heard of this band. That's OK, if a friend's brother hadn't played bass for them previously I wouldn't have either. From their inception in 2003 until last year, the only way to hear their music was to have seen them at one of their rare live appearances or a demo that wasn't widely circulated. One fact should reveal everything you need to know about this band: they're a 9 piece. No, they're not the second coming of pageninetynine, they're a post-rock band, as you probably surmised. Industries of the Blind aren't revolutionary, if you consider yourself a fan of post-rock you've probably heard a number of similar bands. It's likely that few of them execute as well as Industries of the Blind, however. If you're like me (and you should be) you can never have too much post-rock to put on when the mood strikes.
Chapter 1 is available for free on the Industries of the Blind website. There's a donation button on there too, so if you like what you hear send a few bucks their way.
Chapter 1 is available for free on the Industries of the Blind website. There's a donation button on there too, so if you like what you hear send a few bucks their way.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Thantifaxath- Thantifaxath (2011)
This was a really pleasant surprise. Thantifaxath are a black metal band hailing from Toronto. I've alternately seen this called an EP and a demo, but fret not those of you who require some level of production value, this doesn't sound like it was recorded in a trashcan underwater. If I had to compare Thantifaxath to another black metal band it would be Deathspell Omega, who are, in my opinion, the best black metal band over the last decade, so said comparison is high praise indeed. Thantifaxath share a similar predilection for dissonance and riffs that lurch and flail about in an off-kilter fashion that brings late 90's mathy hardcore bands to mind more so than early 90's black metal.
For a first release, it's remarkable how good these three songs are. Hoping we hear a lot more from Thantifaxath in the future. I just picked up a copy on red vinyl (limited to 100) from Dark Descent, you should too.
For a first release, it's remarkable how good these three songs are. Hoping we hear a lot more from Thantifaxath in the future. I just picked up a copy on red vinyl (limited to 100) from Dark Descent, you should too.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Obsequiae- Suspended In The Brume Of Eos (2011)
Wow. Yeah, wow. I somehow managed to not hear of this band until I read the totally awesome interview with them in Chips & Beer #2, but I'm retroactively adding this to my favorites of 2011.
"Classical" is a term that gets bandied about far too often."Classically trained" or "classically influenced" seem to get tossed out every time someone hears a guitarist with better than average talent who writes anything that can be considered "epic". However, the two gents from Minnesota that comprise Obsequiae are the real deal (seriously, one dude specializes in harp composition from the 13th century). Fine, maybe they're not influenced by the classical period as much as they are by the medieval and renaissance periods, but you know, most people just lump all of it together as classical music anyway.
A lot of reviewers seem to want to tag this as black, melodic black or post-black metal. So I guess I'll jump on that boat. However, other than the vocals and what adds up to perhaps a minute of blast beating and trem picking, there isn't a whole lot of black metal here, though I can see how this would appeal to fans of bands with progressive, epic or atmospheric tendencies like Krallice, Agalloch and Drudkh. Actually, if you took out the vocals, I don't think there would be anything too objectionable on this album to fans of medieval music with a soft spot for rock 'n roll or prog rock fans either.
So what does this actually sound like? Melodic black metal? Yep. Progressive black metal? Sure. Medieval music? Absolutely. You'll have to check it out to get an idea of what that sounds like all mashed together.
According to Bindrune a vinyl version is in the works for later this year! I'll make a post about that when the pre-order is up.
"Classical" is a term that gets bandied about far too often."Classically trained" or "classically influenced" seem to get tossed out every time someone hears a guitarist with better than average talent who writes anything that can be considered "epic". However, the two gents from Minnesota that comprise Obsequiae are the real deal (seriously, one dude specializes in harp composition from the 13th century). Fine, maybe they're not influenced by the classical period as much as they are by the medieval and renaissance periods, but you know, most people just lump all of it together as classical music anyway.
A lot of reviewers seem to want to tag this as black, melodic black or post-black metal. So I guess I'll jump on that boat. However, other than the vocals and what adds up to perhaps a minute of blast beating and trem picking, there isn't a whole lot of black metal here, though I can see how this would appeal to fans of bands with progressive, epic or atmospheric tendencies like Krallice, Agalloch and Drudkh. Actually, if you took out the vocals, I don't think there would be anything too objectionable on this album to fans of medieval music with a soft spot for rock 'n roll or prog rock fans either.
So what does this actually sound like? Melodic black metal? Yep. Progressive black metal? Sure. Medieval music? Absolutely. You'll have to check it out to get an idea of what that sounds like all mashed together.
According to Bindrune a vinyl version is in the works for later this year! I'll make a post about that when the pre-order is up.
Buy it:
Saturday, March 3, 2012
SubRosa - No Help For The Mighty Ones (2011)
Having largely overlooked this release when it came out, I found it due time to revisit this stunner. No Help For The Mighty Ones is an exceptional collection of songs. In Latin, SubRosa, is defined as "under the rose". In English, the term is used in reference to secrecy or confidentiality. Musically, this band has quite an aire of the mysterious. I can easily envision SubRosa as the soundtrack to some underground societies ritual. Shrouded figures gathered around, swaying in a joined trance-like state while vocalist Rebecca Vernon acts as the orator to the proceedings. While their approach is extremely straight forward, all the component in place make one pretty epic and captivating album. Thanks in part to their dual violinist attack. Yeah you read that right. While most bands have lead and rhythm guitarists, they have dueling violins. Their addition add an entirely different kind of heavy to this record. Beautiful, melancholy, heavy, and totally triumphant, No Help...has everything I love and look for in an album of this type. SubRosa- No Help For The Mighty Ones will most certainly be counted among some of my favorite records. This will be on serious rotation for a while.
Buy it:
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Pygmy Lush- Old Fiends (2011)
We are all aware of the pedigree from which Pygmy Lush was born, so no need to fill in the back story here. Their latest offering Old Friends finds them moving pretty much completely away from those now legendary beginnings. Where they would once convey feeling and dynamic through bombastic explosions of chaotic aggression, they now find solace in the quiet and reserved. And they do it beautifully. Their transformation to, dare I say, an almost alt. country/ punk folk band seems completely natual. From Bitter River's more straight forward punk rage to Mount Hope's transitional feel, they seem to have truly found their identity with this release. Kudos boys! It has been quite the journey for the Taylor brothers and Co. Be sure to come check them out opening for Converge on 4/12 at DC9. Definitely not one to miss!
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