UK necronauts Wallowing transmit “Flesh and Steel” from Earth Reaper. Abandon all hope. Bigger and meaner than before, this is death metal bent under industrial distortion and torn asunder by the gravitational pull of a black hole. Extraordinarily heavy, staggering and lurching, occasionally picking up pace to only be mangled and further broken into pieces of molten slag. And I must say some of the packages these guys have developed in their lab are as clever as can be, of particular note the space tapes.
From one siege engine to the next. We shall indulge in new material from noisecore titans Great Falls. Appears Funny What Survives is a mere teaser for a full length later this year. My running joke with Great Falls (and members’ former project Playing Enemy) has always been these guys write the best Voivod songs Voivod didn’t write. Interestingly enough, these short doses aren’t as Voivod as one accustomed with Great Falls would expect. Sure, it’s informed by the mighty Quebecois outfit, but, this time around there’s far more jittery energy, explosive power and menace to their angular riffing, blower bass, maniac behind the drum kit and harrowing vocal delivery on the verge of mental collapse. This is Great Falls at their most vitriolic and punishing yet.
Thank you to Mind Eraser PR for the descent into the cavern to discover Cave Moth’s Paralytic Love. You see the artwork and you probably think this is in Knoll, Telos, Fed Ash territory. While you may not be off the mark - this math tech, self-described as “adderall grind” is a knotty beast unto itself. No song here topping 1:30 in length, and ending before 8 minutes pass, this is off to the races and over before you know it. Cave Moth’s mix of djenty guitar tone and vocal attack being not dissimilar to CarBomb, Nightmarer or Coma Cluster Void fueled with mathgrind blur of Discordance Axis. Interesting to note, with the way this is mixed having guitars and vocals to the fore I was not focusing on the drums to even question whether they are physically played or programmed (which they are); other than their unabating jackhammer speed the rough and tumble guttural guitars with a smattering of pinch harmonic squeals and caustic vocals devouring them commands all the attention. For me Paralytic Love works best as a whole and not in pieces, though preview track “My Blood” is an indication of what abuse a listener is signing up for Friday, April 14th, 2023.
“Samotan” is the first song off forthcoming Left to Starve album Vapaj za mogućim. This Croatian unit came in slow and low on 2019’s Nikada se nisam bojao zmija with elongated Sabbath riffs, fuzz toned, wracked with feedback and sounding almost as if Sleep were fronted by Mike IX Williams. With nearly two decades between Jerusalem and Nikada se nisam bojao zmija there isn’t much stylistic departure when it boils down to the nuts and bolts of song writing, however the production on display elevates it beyond mere riff and tone worship. It is an all enveloping mix and immersive sound design on the 2019 album. This more recent glimpse into the Left to Starve discography sounds murkier and darker than 4 years ago and is crawling in Bunkur slow motion death drone domain. Riffs sustain at length, drums plod, growled vocals hang until they fry under the feedback and sci-fi flick laser effects. Whether or not the just under 14 minute “Samotan” is indicative of the entirety of Vapaj za mogućim is yet to be determined.
A new Ordovician Records release, GOLDEN CANNIBAL ramp up the speed considerably from what just transpired with Left to Starve. This EP is a collaboration between Lucas Wyssbrod (Monovoth, Mostro, Hail the Invisibles) and Andrew Notsch (Manipulator, This Is The Last Time, Ex-Sunless). Six songs and best listened to as “a bizarre musical adventure” merging tech and human performance into the deep recesses of your animal brain and stimulating the pineal gland for you to reach altered states and return from beyond. I think think this would be better served as a single piece of music rather than 6 parts as the edits between tracks sometimes disturb the intended continuous flow which merges and flitters between dissonant tech metal to 80s horror movie and sci-fi synth scores and effects.
Sentient Ruin Laboratories conjures Aphotic Abyssgazer. Press release drops every titan under the sun: Triptykon, Incantation, Neurosis, Godflesh, Evoken, Bölzer, among others. Honestly only hear the Bölzer element on the premiere track and that isn’t a terrible thing whatsoever given Lese Majesty will be four years old later this year. “Cosmivore” has a heroic charging element in terms of musical drive and the vocal switches… here being more death metal gutturals to berserker howls to Valhalla on high. This album is engineered by Esoteric’s Greg Chandler and I would say this debut track has quite a bit of Metamorphogenesis sound design going for it with swirling echoing sounds, textural layering, massive reverb and delay.
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A change of song writing approach for Scáth Na Déithe brings a full length album of two long form songs. Virulent Providence could be the perfect black metal companion piece to Qrixkuor’s Zoetrope. While I enjoy this incarnation of Scáth Na Déithe I feel something is off in terms of the production with the drums (drum programming?) in particular being drowned in the murk of guitar layers, vocal stacking, ornamental textures and effects than previous recordings. I get the sense this could sound even bigger. As it stands it’s all very suffocating with so much going on that there is over crowding and elements are fighting for air. The intro to “Virulent Providence Part 2” has a less is more aesthetic and to my ears things sound wider and larger until more layers are piled on after the initial vocal attack. There is a moment much later in the song when a lone acoustic guitar sounds bigger than almost everything that has come before it and when everything explodes with it in true Hermann Nitsch, Glenn Branca, Swans style it is a thing of utter beauty. All said and done, despite my reservations regarding the mix being fatiguing, Virulent Providence is a tremendous piece of work demanding a listen.
Fryktelig Støy (Norwegian for “Horrible Noise”) is a solo project from the mighty Oligarch’s Em Støy. Here she abandons her dissonant death metal for something else as distressed and wrought with anger. Em works a more minimal black metal style here utilizing repetition, cyclical guitar textures, reverb and delay to maximize open space. And, yes, that voice! Sometimes recalls the theatrical qualities and timbre of Lori Bravo.
New Fleshmeadow EP in the wings. First song has arrived. All the spidery riffs, breakneck pacing you remember with synth orchestral textures you don’t. Very much in keeping with what they did on Daymares and Umbra: Theory in Practice meets Coroner guitar virtuosity, venomous vocals, and speeds to rival Dawn - Slaughtersun.
This is a reminder that February 3, 2023 Bandcamp Friday saw the release of Remote Viewing - Modern Addictions. Take a beating by Great Falls continue the punishment with this. Victory is a question of stamina, and this is a prolonged beating with a cudgel.
Another returner - Coffin Nail hammer the Hanged Man. First time around was the preview track, now, the real deal. War metal throttle, death metal grinding, whacked out solos reminiscent of Wolok, cavernous bellicose vocals, pure sloppy filth.
You have to love the mission statement for Omen Astra’s “first single, “False Gods,” is an exploration into the vastness of heavy music that blends the complexity of Gojira with the detuned sludge of Sumac. Vocalist Christopher Gray (ex. The Black Maria, New Day Rising) transitions seamlessly from guttural screams to aethereal melodies reminiscent of David Bowie. A juxtaposition of the grotesque and the beautiful that will stick with you long after you listen.” Tonally I hear a specific someone nu-metal, but, the Bowie intent is definitely there and the guitar tone and rhythmic push and pull is from Mars to Sirius. Looking forward to what the remaining songs do as they look to have longer run time than this initial dose. Given this will be a joint effort between Hypaethral Records, Protagonist Records, and Moment of Collapse you can almost be assured the Omen Astra will be quality.
Ypres. How do you even go about this? A band from Russia named after a Belgian city that plays a form of post rock steeped in Americana. Could this even be good? Answer to that is up to you, but, for me, this actually works its magic convincingly. Sturdy production allowing for all the requisite three dimensional space to allow the reverb drenched guitars drift and the bass and drums do the pack mule’s brunt of the heavy lifting. Vocals are in the static school of post metal/hardcore - and that is really the only knock I have. Yes, they do their job with efficiency, but, imagine a singer that hit this with the fervent delivery of a Pentecostal preacher, Eugene Robinson, jittery Nick Cave or David Yow energy and it would ascend to another level.
To the majestic heights of ISON with Lisa Cuthbert…
to crushing despair of SPK.
suffice to say, I had a much more brutal VHS tape of this landmark piece of SPK history, but, this for all ill will and purpose will have to do.