Spurned to action after seeing a new Forbidden track, “Divided by Zero.” No, it isn’t a truncated version of the song yours truly wrote lyrics and put voices to. Does it sound like Forbidden of old? In a musical sense it’s similar. It’s no Twisted into Form. In its own way it sounds like bands they would influence: Nevermore and Martyr (and, funny enough, Daniel Mongrain is one of the guitarists here); but, the production is at a juncture between harsh and brittle. Of course, the Forbidden track has more plays in a day on youtube than starkweather would ever have in a lifetime. Hence the loser’s stinger from The Price is Right being the lead. Nice to hear Chris Kontos cutting loose on the kit again. Dude has always been a monster.
Same week, and get this - you can’t make it up, but, this is far and away better than the Forbidden track or our similarly titled song, “Wilding” off croatoan…. composer Ying Wang - RE: Wilding for chamber orchestra. This epic piece performed by ensemble reflektor is a sonic exorcism. All of the pieces off this Kairos release are phenomenal in their approach to modern classical. Elements of Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Krzysztof Penderecki and Xenakis being, ahem, twisted into different forms. At times ominous at times playful and other instances a precarious balance of both. Minimoog and electronics with symphony orchestra? Check 528Hz 8va.
Full Kairos release, 5 pieces, can be found at this playlist.
For something I did not expect to hear, new Public Enemy. Chuck D proving a 65 year old man, partially blind in one eye, truly is king in the land of the blind. This has a 72 hour pay as you want window. More than likely that will be expired by the time I vomit this out. I believe physical copy arrives in October.
Disciples of the bomb squad and My Bloody Valentine, Dälek came with their sinuous bass lines, noise textures and rhymes in May with a new track that appears to be wrapped in Paul Romano artwork.
The throughline beginning with P.E. ends at Holy Scum. A transatlantic scrum between Manchester, UK’s Gnod and NJ’s Dälek. No wave, noise rock par excellence. Big drums, bass, gnarled guitars, electronics and coarse vocals.
Another transatlantic collaboration. This of supremely bleak proportions, Ignoble conjure black metallurgy from Quebec and Denmark. Somewhere between cascadian black and depressive suicidal this is flat out annihilating. Drumming buried under a wall of scouring savage vocals, icy, brittle guitar droning and solid bass undercurrent. Long form songs that are unremitting in their grim determination to drown a listener in utter despair.
Abraham look to close the trilogy which began with Look, here comes the dark! with the insanely titled IDSUNGWÜSSÄ. These Swiss don’t miss with their twist on the Cult of NeurIsis template. Sci-fi textural opening is Breach-ed with filthly bass, layered vocals and additional cinematic ambience soaks in before the tribal drums lead the threnody toward outer space commences. The attention to detail, whether the electronic textures, three dimensional space, and dynamics is akin to LLNN, Lesser Glow and Rosetta.
Longstanding Swiss sludgesters Zatokrev …Bring Mirrors To The Surface. Another in the Pelagic stable looking to move the earth off axis in 2025. Don’t let an orange wannabe tyrant at the White House know, otherwise he’ll be tossing bunker busters in the direction of a neutral country and maybe one over to the Pelagic HQ in Berlin for good measure. Quick scan at the song titles there are a number of assists on this new release, from fellow countrymen in Bolzer, Schammasch and Inezona to past collab partners Minsk. Nice push and pull, quiet/loud dynamic happening on this first preview track, “Blood,” that is very Breach, Cult of NeurIsis given more emotional depth to the vocal attack than the usual wall to wall hoarse barking associated with the genre. By the song’s midpoint it is in a quiet space that owes as much to Pink Floyd or Van der Graaf Generator.
A new release from OTDHR has come gurgling out of the depths of space and time. The approach here at times makes me think of a raw form Chaos Echoes dialing back the angular, esoteric elements for sprawling blackened doom. Compared to the debut, this isn’t as immediately heavy in terms of tones but it remains impactful with a raw, caustic urgency associated with a live recording.
The improvisational side of OTDHR is expressed through Qanat. Can be heard as the rugged carving in obsidian and workshopping toward manageable song lengths. Unhinged, hypnotic, unfiltered and maniacal.
Madison, Wisconsin’s Ossuary with a churning, low end death doom crawl style that is always welcome to these ears. While none of the riffing particularly becomes an earworm, there are moments when they resemble Necroticism slowed down tremendously and there are tail ends of specific riffs with flashes of Immolation and Morbid Angel or the morbidity of Asphyx and Celtic Frost (“Barren Lamentation”). For myself the witchy, vomit vocals are the show stealer. Great to see another album with See Machine artwork… Dormant Ordeal and Caracal.
When youarethree tell you they’re atmospheric noise from sexy boys you best believe. If Holy Fawn are in your wheelhouse, so, should youarethree. Looking forward to more from this act out of Belarus.
New track from this naked dude, his guitarists and their drum machine. New Templum Anima Morti track captured live.
Another surprise out of the blue with the announcement of a new Defacement album, appropriately titled Doomed. “Worthless” is well worth your time gate crashing like Voivod hopped up on death metal… you know, Gorguts obscura/from wisdom to hate. This absolutely rules and while all the obvious placemarkers are there, it tosses a wrench in the works and mixes things up nicely with a wild arrangement utilizing more riffs than Dark Angel’s time does not heal aesthetic and a guitar solo in the mid-section that is very Mongrain gone Holdsworth.
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