Been stop/start on this post for a few weeks now. Things that should have been here have been omitted. Will they make a later return? Time will tell. Life and death have been getting in the way of late.
Given reports regarding G.I.S.M. frontman Sakevi Yokoyama dying, it’s no better time than the present to get into the swing of things.
As if the state of the world isn’t lousy enough. I kept hoping to see a social media post that Sakevi’s death is a hoax and ever the eternal instigator and agitator is playing a prank to amuse himself at the expense of others. Unfortunately, Beast Arts International confirmed the worst on September 2 regarding its agent of chaos.
Hard to believe someone the likes of Sakevi passing away peacefully. Never allow truth to get in the way of a good story. I imagine his burning rage consumed him as he slept. Having cast free of the mortal coil he has rejoined fallen compatriots Randy, Toru and Ghost to wreak havoc across the multiverse, heavens and hells with instruments of sonicrime therapy and make-shift flamethrowers.
Here’s to the legend that is Sakevi Yokoyama. You were chaos manifest in flesh. A mortal vessel earthbound for a brilliant moment to burn bright enough to become legend. Wherever your spirit travels may you continue to conqueror. Thank you for blessing us with your art.
New Tetragrammacide announced by Iron Bonehead. Rip roaring death metal assault on this track that is a Morbid Angel covenant/domination riff-o-rama infused with more grind and a dash of doom.
Texan sons of the Steeve Hurdle sonic cloth Baring Teeth emerge from the pandemic voracious, volatile and signed on with I, Voidhanger. As straight forward a track as you’ll hear from these guys in terms of arrangement, but, executed with all the angular riffing, jagged timing, rumbling bass thunder, grinding drums you’ve come to expect of the trio. Voivod and Gorguts alien intelligence informed by the grit and megaton pummel of Great Falls/Playing Enemy and the grind of Human Remains and Nasum. Battering ram force and laser focus precision. This is going to be monstrous.
From Indonesia “Constant Hollow” is the first emanation from Kala in four years. This too proves the Hurdle cult is undeterred in spreading dissonance and reverse engineering alien technology for unhinged ends by means of metallurgy. Racing out of the block and howling in rage. Touches of Ginn quasi melodic splendor in a couple spots. With any luck this signals a full length follow up to Litany of Dissonant Souls is soon underway.
Well look what we have here on Transcending Obscurity: Dwelling Below A of misfits including two mutants from, among many others, Acausal Intrusion and a single member of Hollowed Idols. They’ve described what they do as “primal and cavernous death doom dripping with psychedelia and blackened touches to create a wall of sound that is truly monstrous and alien.” Who am I to argue? Look at that cover art, should give you an idea of what you’re dealing with. Incantation death mongering, Blut Aus Nord informed harmonies mixed with Immolation off kilter soloing.
New track of long form, lumbering death doom from Suffer Yourself spills vocal vomit, sizzling feedback and a doomed out intro that prolongs the agony before churning in an Autopsy miasma to descend sewerside in a slurry of noise and divebombing riffage. One of the things that separates this from straight up Autopsy, Incantation and Mortiferum worship is the mix and tones offer wide soundspace following the likes of classic death doom acts Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride or even metamorphogenesis Esoteric.
In a weird way Hollow Senses musically remind me of Canada’s late, great Mare given synth and noise washes and crossed with MonumentuM circa In Absentia Christi and songs elongated via Winter Into Darkness. All three of those records are flat out essential classics and if you aren’t familiar, not only shame on you, but rectify those omissions. What is on display with Hollow Senses is an atmospheric, droning metallic beast where Archon’s Nikhil Kamineni pilots the stringed instruments and noise and drummer Gabriel Cruz pounds it out with a ton of reverb on the snare. The vocal approach employs a dual male/female attack of Ryan (Unearthy Trance / Serpentine Path / etc) Lipynsky and Rachel (Archon) Brown that blends both voices and trades off with each taking the fore at different turns. This was my first encounter with Hollow Senses and, now, I must do my due dilligence and check 2016’s Encirclement.
Back to the black courtesy of Fargo, North Dakota’s Acolyte. Zero information to share about this offering… Is it a full band, is it a one man operation? Does it even matter? Nope. One release has a sole member, Vide, and another has Vide with vocal assists from others. This track is a reverb drenched black metal ferocity with what is probably a wendigo frothing at the mouth and gnashing its teeth. Great balance of raging speed and doomed out sludge over the course of its run time.
Aural Music has announced the latest Catafalque avalanche of doom drone power electronics in the form of “Infestation” off Dybbuk. If “kick to kill” Test Dept and C.M.I. Memorandum are in your torture chamber this is going to fill your need for an assault of tribal drum pounding matched with thick bass, electronic treatments, tortured screams with offsetting choral touches. I can even see those who are into Khanate finding the textures and extremity to feed their fix for pain and release.
She The Throne. Eons ago when Starkweather and Amen Ra did a short stint of shows together in Europe and UK we landed in Manchester to play with a killer act called Profane. View them as Oceansize’s Hydra Head brother. Phenomenal musicians with a focus on terrific song writing. Doubt me, look up the Day We Scorched the Sky. Thank me later. From there members went into the electronic realm with From The Kites Of San Quentin. A project which garnered a bit of critical acclaim before returning to earth and calling it a wrap. Now, there is She The Throne. Self described as “A Choir of Spirals,” the ORION Ep is transcendental ritual rhythmic noise. Replete with throbbing pulses, washes of ghostly static, witches in cadence with otherworldly presences, deep space Lustmordian sounds. Cyclic Law, Malignant Records, Cold Spring and Trepanation Recordings ought to be gazing into the black light of She The Throne.
Radiation Blackbody is the mighty backline of the Anodyne - Lifetime of Grey Skies line-up and Deafeatist: bassist Joshua Scott and drummer Joel Stallings. I believe this compendium of convulsions of blower bass and crushing drums breaks what could be a 4 year silence from the aforementioned Scott/Stallings projects. A dextrous exercise in rattling rhythms that are equal measure AmRep, Trance Syndicate lock groove noise rock distilled to bare essential that suddenly propel into Voivodian rrröööaaarrr-ing killing technology forays into dimension hatross. Grab the digital release via the band and vinyl/digital through Nerve Altar.
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Public Service Announcement: BIG|BRAVE rule. Here’s a reminder via Audiotree Live. Sure, nature morte was an early 2023 release, but, it should remain on your radar. Minimalist Caspar Brötzmann Massaker meets Swans mastery of sound, space and time.
New one from ni slated in November. French free jazz prog metal freak out. Part King Crimson, part Flying Luttenbachers, all fucked up. You can thank, Lev.fm, for the link.