New reviews 5/22/2011

Before the Rain- Frail-CD (Avantgarde Music)

Just from the 1st moments of listening this has the major influences of Anathema, Katatonia, Dan Swano's Moontower and Porcupine Tree. So Prog Doom is what I would like to call it. As I read some more Gary Griffith formerly the Guitarist of the amazing Morgion has joined there ranks. There is a layer of Complexity and an almost Gothic edge to what is going on here. The more I listen as the tracks go on there is very much a Draconian Times vibe from Paradise Lost as well.  The Songs all have a driving beat and bass line going on with a very talented guitar and synth arrangement. The vocals are sung , spoken and slightly guttural which makes its all the more special. I will be the first to tell you this album gets Doomy as hell at times. Something I do adore. This is very impressive to say the least check them out ...

http://avantgardemusic.com/

Kauan-Kuu-CD (Avantgarde Music)

There is so much going on with Kauan its really a journey in its self to explain if you mixed Amorphis, Dead Can Dance and Mogwai into one project with a healthy dose of Tenhi as well it would come close to all the genres, styles and sounds going on. This is not a metal or hard rocking album . Its epic, symphonic, lush, electronic and Post Metal... The String, Percussion Male and Female vocals make the album something to remember. Wow Kauan is a massive undertaking to say the least... There really is a delicate nature to Kuu and thats what makes it all the more a must have album in 2011. I will be listening to this over and over again it really is that good.

http://avantgardemusic.com/

Amnis Nihili- Christological Escalation-CD (Avantgarde Music)

Industrial Black Doom Noise this what your getting here my friends. This album is madness in the most wonderful and passonate of ways. If you like bands like Code, DHG, Mayhem (Grand Declaration album), Manes, Marduk, MZ412, Burzum then folk you have major winner. There are so very Blut Aus Nord , Shining (NO) moments going on with this gem. Droning and Drifting sounds are heavily mixed into the darkness and sorrow that is Aminis Nihili . Bands like this are an advance listen to say the least but so well worth it in the end. The way you experience this album will never be the same twice. Aminis Nihili is mood music for the Occultist/ Outsiders of the world.

http://avantgardemusic.com/

Rev 16:8 - Ashlands-CD (AFM)

Raise your horns for the Warmachines of the old guard of the Black metal battle cries. If you like that dirty Thrashing sound mix with blistering and nasty Black metal full of Ritualistic hymn and that frozen hypnotic vibe them welcome home to the new dark age of destruction. Watain, Marduk, Death spell omega,  Gorgoroth etc. You get the point of this, Black metal that will break bones and scare the God fearing right back into the mighty dark ages where they hide in churches and caves till the plague was done killing off the weak. AFM shocked me a bit with this as there are more a traditional metal or power metal label. With a move in this direction AFM can become a major player like Candlelight and Regain in Europe...

http://afm-records.de/

Mortualia-S/T-CD (Moribund Cult)

There are moment when you hear something so sick, twisted, tortured and just plain off kilter that it just takes you back for a moment and you just need to re think what under ground music is really all about . The tones and low fi sounds on Mortualia are just are unsettling and the vocals , A voice that sounds like the vocalist is being skinned alive at times. This Self timed album guitars are so dissident and atonal at times I really feel that death will be the only release for those that listen and maybe after all that is the reason this Horna/ Sargeist member has yet another project on the Masterful Moribund Records. To top it all off this is a reissue that gladly most of us get to hear now. Slow sickness like this takes time to perfect and that is just what happened with this.

http://moribundcult.com/

Moon- Caduceus Chalice-CD (Moribund Cult)

Do you remember a band called Profanum or Azrael . These are what I hear in moon from the 1st moments of this review.  Another project that has that same hopeless ethereal Black ambience that just really draws the life from you is Lustre and you know again the lo fi and over the top brittle production makes the album all the more powerful to listen to. Spiraling into depression is very much the same as a spin with this album. Moon is so haunting and looping with verb and different slowly phasing sounds  you will get caught up in this and remember the Gods of old are pissed off you forgot about them and what to be reminded again from the shadows which they were cast away too. Moribund you just keep finding bands like this and its a win for all the underground occult metal fans.

http://moribundcult.com/

Wolvserpent Live 5/20/2011 @ Sound Kontrol in Phx AZ

http://wolvserpent.com/

Wolvserpent is a band of so many layers and talents . The mix elements of Earth, Melvins, Dolorian, Thergothon, Neurosis and Eyehategod just to name a few. Here are a few photos from last nights amazing show in Arizona.. If you missed out you missed out alot. Blake and Brit are 100% the real deal and very cool people ... Support them by getting there Cds, Shirts and more here is the rest of the tour dates go see them...

Sat 5/21 in Santa Fe, NM @ Warehouse 21

Sun 5/22 in Las Cruces, NM @ The Trainyard w/Yazata, Ghost Icon

Mon 5/23 in Austin, TX @ Headhunters

Tue 5/24 in Dallas, TX @ Rubber Gloves

Wed 5/25 in Texarkana @ Dave’s Skate Shop

Thu 5/26 in Shreveport, LA @ Dalzell

Fri 5/27 in Nashville, TN @ Little Hamilton

Sat 5/28 in Athens, GA @ Caledonia Lounge

Sun 5/29 in Columbia, SC @ TBA

Mon 5/30 in Durham, NC @ Casbah w/MAKE

Tue 5/31 in Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter w/Wildildlife

Fri 6/3 in Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head

Sat 6/4 in Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron

Sun 6/5 in Providence, RI @ TBA

Wed 6/8 in Milford, CT @ Daniel St w/Kayo Dot

Thu 6/9 in Pittsburgh, PA @ Garfield Arts w/Dwarf Fortress

Fri 6/10 in Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon St

Sat 6/11 in Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar

Sun 6/12 in Chicago, IL @ Pancho’s w/Tombs, A Storm of Light

Tue 6/14 in Milwaukee, WI @ Borg Ward

Wed 6/15 in Minneapolis, MN @ TBA

Thu 6/16 in Dubuque, IA @ Busted Lift

Fri 6/17 – TBA

Sat 6/18 – Denver, CO @ TBA

New Reviews 5/14/2011

Panzerchrist- Regiment Ragnarok-CD ( Listenable )

Yes bring on the war metal sounds that this review oh so loves. If your into a mix of Marduk, Bolt Thrower and Dark Funeral you will come close to this Blackened Battle of metallic sounds. Panzerchrist is never an easy listen and if it was what would be the point. They have a melodic side but there real talent and power come from the blistering percussion, guitars and vocals that are just this side of the final apocalypse. The guttural cries are full of so much pain and nightmares. War is a relief to this mans mind.  There are some that try to come close to what Panzerchrist does but none really do . As the Black, Death and Melodic all meld into one with that amazing martial element tying it all together.. HORNS UP !!!!!

http://listenable.net/

The Crevices Below- Below the Crevices-CD ( Nordvis )

This is so ethereal and haunting in its presentation of what Blackened Gloom I hear from this one man project. It reminds me so much of earlier limbonic art from the 1st few track I can tell and The Crevices Below have the Darkthrone  production with is very open and airy in the guitars and primitive drumming.  I don't normally call music Suicidal but to me The Crevices Below really give that feeling in the way bands like  Ancient Wisdom, Bethlehem and Shining (Sweden) do.  In the Guitars there is a Katatonia vibe I hear as well but just the guitars in the very verbed out guitar sound.  The Vocals are very creepy to say the least from the whisper to the shrieks of torment and madness. This is a test of ones very mental stability in the way the tones and songs are created. Fantastic release.

http://www.nordvis.com

Xerath-II-CD (Candlelight)

Wow is the way I would start on what I would call a visionary album as its mixes Prog, Black , Death , Hard rock and Movie soundtracks all at once.  Just from my 1st listen I hear  Devin Townsend, Oxiplegatz, Bal Sagoth and Ayreon all into a Dimmu Borgir vibe. This is epic on all levels. The strings, guitars, horns, synths and massive sung  vs  grim vocals is makes my ears get crazy with excitement . There is a very futurist and complex prog element. There is even an underlying Industrial element to all of this as a whole. The modern elements in production and writing just add to  what Xerath is . Xerath really does cross boundaries in musical creation and So very honored to have heard this . Candlelight has a major album and band in the making here.

http://candlelightrecordsusa.com/

Drainland-  ... And so our troubles began-CD (Southern Lord)

Oh Brothers and Sister get on top of the altars of all things dirty, sludge like and full of the crust and scum that all us bottom feeds look for. Drainland is all this and more . If Cavity, Noothgrush, Deadguy and Buzzoven had a child in the filthiest of manners it would be Drainland. It reminds me so much of all things  Doom and punk like that the 90's had to offer. They would fit with  Eyehategod was well as Born Against in the same show. The Post Hardcore factions will love this as much as the eco anarchist punks . Bands like Drainland were what I grew up with at Abc No Rio and Cbgb's Sunday afternoon shows. Ah let the feedback and indie though and lo fi sounds fill the room with passion, sweat and frustration all at the same time ...  It's limited to 1000 copies so don't miss out on this ..

http://southernlord.com/ 

Ogen- Black Metal Unbound- CD (Kolony Records)

I would have to say this is more epic black metal in the style that bands like Emperor, Dimmu Borgir or even more modern Mayhem in what they create. Love the Strings going on here it symphonic black metal with a very bomastic as well so it gives all sides of the very classic Norwegian Black metal sound . Ogen arranges there music in many many layers with the clean and fuzzed out guitars, prog drum and bass lines . Ogen's vocals are in that very throaty Black metal sound you have come to love and know as well. Then out of no where those clean Emperor or Borknagar like vocals come in and make it all the more massive in sound. Ogen are complex and flowing all at once in a few tracks. I will be watching this project as it grows. 

http://Kolonyrecords.com/

New Reviews 5/7/2011

Salt the Wound- Kill the Crown-CD (Rotten Records)

This is a total love/ hate kind of band if your into At the gates, Mid period Inflames and Dismember then this is going to kick you in the ass musically. Gothenburg/ Swedish death metal sound is full on here. The power and brutality of this band is only mixed with the complexity and melodic elements flowing from within all they do. Salt the wound really make me long for that 90's Swedish death metal sound so much more then every before. Rotten Records has one hell of a release on their hands and this could be a major metal force with the right push.

http://rottenrecords.com/

Polkadot Cadaver- Sex Offender-CD (Rotten Records)

So every thing I loved on there last album is all them here. Mix Beach Boy, Queen, Faith No More, Tub Ring, Devin Townsend and Voivod into a sickness that is all this and more. Polkadot Cadaver is so many styles, sounds, ideas , feeling and layers that its impossible to genre or even define what music path they have chosen as it goes from Pop to punk to metal to Surf to Jazz to Indie back to Avant Prog rock.  This band is criminally under rated to say the least. If this is the future then I welcome it with open arms as this is one of by Desert Island bands with Ulver and The God Machine ... Mandatory Listening here people.

http://rottenrecords.com/

RED FANG- MURDER THE MOUNTAINS-CD (RELAPSE)

Someone is in love with The Melvins and Mastodon to a level I've not heard in a very long time and you know what Amen Brothers and Sisters as worshiping at the low end temple of sonic sludge is what the best of the best do to make music with emotion , grit and aggression all this and more are with Red Fang. The riff are a monster on this one people . Listen up and  listen loud. Red Fang are one of the best fuzzed out and hypnotic releases I've heard in a while . There is a strong Monster Magnet and Kyuss element going on with Red Fang as well.  I don't like a lot of what you would call stoner but this is kicking me hard my friends. Long live the Fang!!!

http://relapse.com/

INDIAN-GUILTLESS-CD  (RELAPSE)

This is fucking soul crushing DOOOOOOM. with elements of Grind and Post Metal all mixed into aural pain so profound that it will age you with the sonic elements that it produces. Droning and Slow as molasses . Ahhhhh I think I just hit the ultimate level of Nirvana one can for this genre of music can be. Think Earth2, Damad, Noothgrush and Eyehategod all at a party performing together and having a fist fight all at the same time.. Love the noise rock element they throw in for good measure as well. Indian is a band on the mission of Doom for Doom and there is no more justified cause for any musically identity.. Relapse we thank you for another Doom filled lesson!!!

http://relapse.com/

Rabbits- Lower Forms-CD (Relapse)

Remember when you would goto the record store to get the singles from Amrep, Subpop, Bovine or Touch and go in the 90's well hail all things noise rock and dirty indie rock as this is 100% what Rabbits are all about. Low fi and full of piss and vinegar.  Rabbits are part Cows, part Cavity and part Surgery in the sonic low end assault going on here. Rabbits have a lot in common with band like Deadguy, Born Against and Kiss it Goodbye in that Post Hardcore ethic as well. I don't know how else to explain this other then I really love this album and will be pushing it like a drug to all that will listen to me.. 

http://relapse.com/

ACROSS TUNDRAS- SAGE-CD (NEUROT)

So if you ave not heard this band yet . 1st I would ask why?? They mix a few of my favorite musical styles Post Rock, Post Hardcore, Folk , Americana and Dirty Blues.  There is even a groove to what Across Tundras create. The vocals are so very soulful and provoking in they way they are presented and commanded.  Sometime I will like I'm listening to a 70's Spaghetti western in they way Across tundras presents its music. There is something very special about all that comes from the Neurot label and this is all the more in that mold and ideal. Rock and Roll is ever changing , ebbing and flowing into a create that no one 40 yrs ago could even come close to think of. Across Tundras mixes the Past, Current and Future sounds all into more of the most interesting blends of melodies, sorrows and uplifting hymns anyone can ask for..

http://neurotrecordings.com/

ECHTRA- Paragate-CD ( Temple of Torturous)

Simple Folky and Ritualistic guitars mixed with Droning tones and a very primitive percussion is where this project is coming from to me . I've never heard of Echtra before but this seems to be there second release on a Chinese label. Echtra is sprialing and very hypnotic is the way the music comes about almost in the way bands like Troum or Mandible Chatter created there masterpieces. The deep chanting is very beautiful in the way it is presented as well. Portland Oregon is a place of many musical mysteries and with Echtra they just continue. I would like to say this is like a mellower Wolves in the Throne room or the more folk side of Blood of the Black owl or Agalloch.  There is something very occultish about all of this as well. The two track are both very long but never become boring in any way either. I hear a lot of Wolvserpent in this release as well.  I look forward to hearing much more from this Blackend Droning Folk project.

http://templeoftorturous.com/

Aenaon- Cendres Et Sang-CD (Code666)

Well Well Well Post Black metal in the vein of Manes, Negura Bunget, Saytricon, DHG and Khold in what is a  very interesting and innovative sound. But with a label like Code 666 what would you expect. Love this sound that mixes Black metal with hardrock, Blues, Jazz and Carnival music in a way to even put Ulver fans at a frenzied pitch. Aenaon are a band that want to be in a league all there own and with this release that are a cut above the rest for sure. The vocals are sung, cried , screamed and growls sometimes in the same passage. I don't what to use the word epic but something more like massive and majestic fit into what the band is trying to present for sure. I'm a sucker for horns esp jazzy ones so thank you for that on the very 1st track to start out. 2011 is becoming a very good year for new music..

http://code666.net/