Destination Unknown
life is so strange
A lot going on in. Full moon. Colossal rains. Hail storms. Hail of bullets. A “Vampire count bites women, falls on something sharp.” I can’t make this up. Thank you, fios channel guide synopsis writer. Without further explanation, shall we press forward?
Holy hell… Centipede Abyss assembles a murderer’s row of rogues for Ukakuja. Lori Bravo (Nuclear Death), Taylor Belangor (The Idiot Flesh, Kakodaimonia), Pan Inentropy (Act of Entropy, Ar'lyxkq'wr), Jared Moran (Acausal Intrusion and upwards of a thousand young), and Ni Nthentropy (Zvylpwkua, Lux Sine Lumine) are the five principals given assists from Adam R Bryant, Giuseppe Emanuelle Frisone, Nuno Lourenço and Nicholas Turner. 9 songs, 21 minutes of warped reality insanity blurring distinction between art, noise, jazz, metal, grind. Fantastic to hear Lori Bravo back in extreme metal territory and cutting loose incorporating her opera background as well as those murderous caterwauls you remember from her pioneering days with Nuclear Death. Musically this is close to Centipede Abyss denizens Act of Entropy and Zvylpwkua given a Weasel Walter freak out treatment. Nothing sits in the pocket for more than a few seconds at a time before the floor drops out or things catapult through the roof. It’s a funhouse of sound and morphing textures where nothing is tethered too tightly to one space. A soundtrack to Tradd Moore/Steve Ditko Dr Strange art.
Post punked black metal with MiR season unknown. A lot of wah-wah abuse mixed into the CultofNeurIsis wall of sound and frosty riffage.
Have to counter Polish metal with French black metal. KARNE Condamnés can go full Dawn throttle or mix it with dread atmosphere. Dual guitar interplay is well developed here. Nothing flashy, but, particularly strong counterpoint using harmony and melody to work different textures and themes. Love the undertow on the drums - check the toms during the opening of “Limbus puerorum.” The bassist owns a cool rattling tone and gets moments to shine. Vocals throughout the album are uncompromising throat shredding.
Can’t let this one from France slide… new Aodon is announced for release on June 9 via Willowtip Records. Sporting Alex Eckman-Lawn artwork and sounding more determined than ever to rip out your throat with this premiere track. Black metal ferocity and jagged melodicism across nine songs that work as stories detailing the fall of specific individuals to “misery, ego, addiction, belief, violence, obedience, abuse, destruction or love.”
From Chicago with art rock damage: FACS. Using a minimalist approach and generating maximum effect. Humongous bass, lock groove drumming, free form guitar, low key simmering rage and paranoiac vocals. If you dig Wire, Sprain, U Sco, this could be your new favorite band that isn’t exactly a new band.
No Clean Singing has a killer write up and full premiere of the Kuolevan Rukous demo. This German trio has an eerie death metal approach that has a loose/tight - nearly ramshackle feel to the musicianship that works to its favor. Gibbering and vomiting vocals, slightly wet reverb and delay to the guitar, background electronic textures to enhance the horror movie atmosphere that is careening from one circle of hell to the next.
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New episode of Brandon Legion’s Horrorwolf666 Podcast talks shop with Necromaniacs Podcast co-host Jeff Caxide of ISIS, Palms, Crone for a couple hours. Good stuff - a lot of enthusiastic chatter running the gamut of childhood terror, current horrors and music.
As they have threatened on their social medias, Burning Palace with a two song promo. The first track, “Cimmerian Altars” has a futuristic sci fi feel that I honestly didn’t immediately glean from 2020’s Hollow. “Ornaments of Bone” is a bone breaker having a design on early 90s Death meets pre Obscura Gorguts given a smattering of dissonance and Meshuggah-nic reverbed hanging melodic textures.
New Umbilichaos on the horizon. “Burden of a New Dawn” is the first track on display from Mourning Carnivals From Now On. This has a decidedly ferocious ZeniGeva lurch and churn. Colossal guitar tone and roaring vocals are the focus here on what could very well be the angriest track Anna has yet set loose on the world. With this album she is working with Time to Kill Records. The bandcamp link sounds far better than the youtube video - as one would expect.
New Radien coming out next month on Svart. This track takes all of the best elements of the 90s era Neurosis and compacts it for maximum damage. Also adding the earlier preview video which is more psychedelic and atmospheric - more along the lines of the Pink Floyd doused Neurosis style with a dISEMBOWELMENT/Winter twist. And, as always, with bands screaming it out in their native language it sounds far more menacing.
The return of All Tomorrows … Chilean prog metal that reminds me of the idled Proghma-C where elements of Gojira, Voivod, Meshuggah, Fates Warning and Tool are in play. Melodic, heavy and knotty.
XYZ Films dropped the trailer for The Artifice Girl. Looking like eerie sci-fi goodness wrapped in a crime story. April 27 seems to be the target date for VOD and limited theatrical release.
What you get when you take Zappa musicians and try to make pop music… gotta love it. What amazes me is how much crazier Missing Persons sound live than in a studio setting.
Church Road Records has new Graywave slated in the not too distant future. Shoegaze doom ride for the ages. Well, at least since the initial crush from the 90s with MBV, Curve, Swervedriver and ilk.
Belgium’s Lethvm Winterreise on dunk releases today. They warn you “tune low, play slow.” There is a grandeur on display here within the doom drone sludge that is reminiscent of Amen Ra and Neurosis. Perhaps not as apocalyptic but still mountain carving while reaching toward the skies. When the vocals hit the turbo booster it is full throttle toward dictius te necare and Woewarden (Cancer - Aus) and I’m always a sucker for Rainer Landfermann-esque vocal burning.
In what will probably be my favorite release of the month, we have Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief from healthyliving releasing today. Helium Horse Fly meet Esben and the Witch in the Arson Garden.
