Brand new single from these Seattle goth poppers and it's a pretty fantastic slab of blown out minor key dour pop bliss. The A side is all dirgey and fuzzy, the sound super distorted and in-the-red, sounding like some sort of Cure / Jesus And Mary Chain hybrid, hazy dreamy vocals drifting over wistful minor key guitar melodies, and a murky distorted rhythm, there's a killer hook hidden in there too. But it's the B side we're a bit obsessed with, a dubby, druggy, tripped out, gothy doomy ballad, all super reverbed plink plonk piano, the vocals dramatic and crooning, the whole vibe dark and hazy and brooding, the sound remaining weirdly raw and lo-fi and blown out, which makes the record SOUND like those old faded photographs LOOK, washed out and dreamily blurry, at times it almost sounds like Interpol slowed way down and dirtied way up.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!!
First it was the metallic noise rock crunch of Barbara, then it was the freaked out psych-noise of Lietterschpich, and now there's Grave In The Sky, who are proving difficult to describe. But holy shit, has Israel underground rock has been seriously kicking our asses!!! Hard to believe how bad ass and fucked up and utterly amazing this stuff is.�
Grave In The Sky are on the same label as Barbara and�Lietterschpich and sort of fall sonically right between the two. They are a bass/drums/vocals trio, the various members also occasionally responsible for stuff like Indian vocals, noises, effects, and Indian vocals again, hmmm.... The sound is dirgey industrial pound, doomic dirge and blown out noise rock stomp, all tangled up in as seriously chaotic and mangled musical car wreck.�
Let's start at the beginning though. The record is called�Cutlery Hits China: English For The Hearing Impaired. Okay. The songs are all named after movies: "Donnie Darko", "The Descent", "Straw Dogs", "The Devil's Rejects" and "Scum". All chiseled into a faux tomb stone on the back of the cd with the legend "Here Lie..." Weird already.�
Then the first track kicks in and we're in super distorted ultra violent crust sludge heaven where we will happily stay until the end of the record, at which point we will push play again and let this bloody brutality rain down on us all over again. Each track is a lurching sludgey doom trudge, like the Brainbombs at 16rpm, the vocals dripping with FX, hellish and harsh, distorted and twisted into bizarre shapes, sometimes so affected they turn into long drawn out helldub sonic echoes, the riffs are roiling black grooves, the drums, in the red caveman pounding and pummeling. This is some sort of primitive serial killer garage rock stomp but filtered through all sorts of Whitehouse NOISENOISENOISE, with every knob and every effect turned up to 11. The songs may begin as crusty doom dirges, but once the effects kick in every single note, every shouted lyric, every drum pound is echoed into jagged fragments and sent spinning� in every direction resulting in the songs turning into ultra damaged noise dub experimental chaos. And it sounds so amazing. Layer after layer of undulating sound, corrosive and harsh, speaker shredding buzz, vocals swirling and turned inside out, the drums distorted into blinding bursts, but buried within all of this blurry smeared musical mayhem, are strange creepy melodies, plodding industrial rhythms, huge low end swells and tons of textural grit and grime.�
Another one of those rare records where utterly abject, ear shredding noise, and an avalanche of effects and some of the harshest and hateful sounds we have ever heard, are all somehow transformed into a record we actually want to listen to. And not just once. Over and over and over and again and again. We were pretty sure it would be tough to beat Barbara and Lietterschpich, in terms of bizarre brutality, but then it never occurred to us to just mash them both together. Fucking awesome.�
Grave Temple is another kick ass Southern Lord allstar matchup. Personnel-wise, it's basically a 3 parts of the of the ever expanding and sprawling SUNNO)))) whole, and it sounds like it. A power trio made up of Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Aborym, Tormentor, occasional SUNNO)))) contributor), Stephen O'Malley (SUNNO))), Khanate, Burning Witch, Ginnungagap, KTL, Lotus Eaters) and experimental guitarist Oren Ambarchi, who also has been spending much of his free time lately in SUNNO)))).
The Holy Down is a single hour long track woven together by Ambarchi from various live performances recorded live in Israel in 2006, and spends its first 10 minutes wandering aimlessly through a haunted junkyard of clangs, and clatter, creaks and chimes, the occasional chest rattling sonic boom, but for the most part, super abstract and spacious. But c'mon, it doesn't take long before things get heavy and creepy, with the guitars billowing into black waves, and Csihar's strange chanted vocals drifting like smoke in a temple. About halfway through, they veer into serious SUNNO)))) territory, with the guitars becoming thick walls of crumbling distortion and squealing peals of feedback. The band drones on before the drums kick in (that's Ambarchi on the drums!) and suddenly the track is transformed into a chaotic metallic tribal space jam that gets more and more frenzied, some almost blast beats surface but splinter into free jazz freakouts, the vocals become a death rattle, everything still wrapped in thick clouds of black buzz, until the song fades out in a blackened swirl of ultra creepy processed ghostlike voices...
LIMITED TO 3000 COPIES! Each one numbered, the ones we got are getting close to 3000 so like most SUNNO))) and SUNNO))) related projects, these probably won't be around for long...
We were pretty heartbroken when San Diego garage-surf, new wave, gloom poppers Mrs. Magician called it quits recently. In fact when Andee went down to LA to play some shows with A Minor Forest, Mrs. Magician was the first band AMF asked to play with. But alas, it was already too late. And while we were placated with a lp of B-sides and demos (also pretty goddamn great), we kept hoping we'd eventually get more Mrs. Magician someday. This is not that, but it's about as close as we're gonna get it seems. Jacob Turnbloom from Mrs. Magician here teams up with garage rocker Dan Sartain for a sound that sits about right in the middle of their two respective approaches. It's not nearly as rambunctious and punky as MM, but it is still a little bit surfy and jangly and psychedelic and garagey, although also more dark and dour, a bit more gloomy and gothic, I mean come on, they're called The Grave Walks. So yeah, instead of whatever inspirations MM was born out of, this stuff is more slithery and swampy, gloomy and gothy, shades of the Cramps, the Birthday Party, old Leaving Trains, Flesh Eaters, that kind of thing, all filtered though a little bit of that residual MM surfy jangle. Great stuff that definitely has us hankering for more!
We definitely love all stripes of black metal, often the weirder the better, but there's something about pure, raw, classic black metal, the buzz and the blast, the frenzied riffing the, howled vocalizing, the majestic melodies, the murky atmosphere, even the corpsepaint and the over the top theatricality, that we just can't get enough of. Even after all these years, a band can come along, who are not necessarily reinventing the wheel, or pushing boundaries, but whose sound is just so perfect, so classically black, that we just can't resist. Helps too if they're Finnish. Thus we have Graveborne, a grim horde from Finland who sound like they were transported directly from the nineties, with a sound that slips easily from lightning fast frantic blasting, to midtempo melancholy crush, the riffs kill, the arrangements appropriately complex, the sound often slipping into an almost classic metal melodic gallop, channeling a little NWOBHM into their black fury. And these guys actually are pretty heavy on the melody too, with much of this being surprisingly catchy. But fear not, there's plenty of gnarled black weirdness, and chugging churn that definitely hint at some exposure to Deathspell and other forward thinking hordes.
And we have to say, while we were immediately smitten by the sound. The more we listen to this, the more we're loving it. The cliched adage that "they don't make 'em like they used to" can still be applied to black metal. Lots of bands ape that classic era, but few can do it convincingly, with not just the sound, but the songs too, but Graveborne most definitely do. And while we didn't necessarily have super high expectations for this, it's quickly becoming our most listened to new black metal record. Which definitely says a lot...
This is the third record from these masters of 'horrorcore' recorded while Gravediggaz mainman Poetic was struggling with colon cancer. He died before they finished the record, but his partner Frukwan finished putting it together and finally we get to hear the results. The sound has changed a bit since their last record 'The Pick, The Sickle And The Shovel'. While it's still creepy and 'horrific', it sounds less manic and hysterical, more subtly sinister, and lyrically, Poetic started rhyming about being sick and his cancer, so the rhymes seem much more intense and personal. And no RZA this time, but their production hasn't suffered for it, lots of creepy scary loops, far away piano, ghostly female vocals, sick beats and amazing rhymes: Frukwan and Poetic had such amazing chemistry together. It's really sad to lose someone so talented and so young, but at least we're lucky to have one more record and one more chance to enjoy his amazing art.
Supergroup composed of Prince Paul, a guy from Stetsasonic, RZA of WuTang. We're thinking it's more ferocious and thus better than the recent much-hailed WuTang record!
Blood Of Heroes is just the sort of title you'd expect from Poland's mighty black metal horde Graveland, a frosty call to arms, hailing their mighty (imaginary?) Viking ancestors. It becomes a bit more problematic to say the least hen you read the liner notes and realise the specific hero referred to in the title is in fact Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. Yup. But since the original vinyl version came out on a NY based label and the climate after September 11 was a bit sensitive to say the least, they left the dedication off the original vinyl pressing. But now on the cd version, released far away from the fray, on German label No Colours, and with a bit more post 9/11 time, Darken and his Graveland are again free to hail McVeigh as "a true hero of America." Weird. But weirdness and problematic politics have always been part and parcel of black metal, and you obviously just have to decide to either protest and not listen, or ignore and enjoy the amazing music. And amazing it is as always. A buzzy blurry blast of loping midtempo riffing, plodding relentless drumming, demonic howled vocals, and a dreary murky ambience. While this ep is a scant 15 minutes, it's hard not to be mesmerised the entire time. From a gorgeous opening, a very creepy Arvo Part-ish choral bit, on to epic fuzzy metalscapes, reptitive hypnotic droning riffery, soaring majestic keyboards and strangely haunting folky melodies buried under suffocating black ambience this is definitely a prime, albeit brief, slice of breathtaking blackness.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Latest album from this politically problematic Polish black metal band. Their bombastic, fuzz-filled anthems of war and triumph are epic and amazing while the band's sole member, Darken, continues to be an idiot (and pose for pictures wearing helmet and
Hate to always do this but once again, we only managed to get a handful of these. These being the special oversized 8" x 6" book version. We'll be able to get more but they'll be the normal jewel case version. This is the newest release from Polish black metal legends Graveland. Dawn Of Iron Blades is yet another majestic blast of fuzzy, droney, Viking-tinged black metal brutality. Mostly midtempo, often waltzy in that droning seasick style we just can't get enough of. Buzzing and blurry, totally hypnotic and mesmerizing. Single riffs repeated mantra-like until you find yourself in a trance, sitting atop Valhalla, while the angels serenade from above in raspy black metal growls and the Vikings below pay homage with riff after Burzumic riff. Best to try and ignore the problematic politics (Nordic Pride bordering on white power) and just luxuriate in the thick fuzz of grim black metal glory!
We gotta go way back for this one. A serious slab of black metal history. The first time on cd for Graveland's infamous third demo, originally released on cassette in 1992, Drunemeton, and while it is way more grim and lo-fi that we've come to expect, it's also way weirder, and you know how we love that.
From the very Graveland like intro, tape hiss and church bells, whirling wind, huge buzzing swaths of primitive synth and harsh whispered vocals, you know this is gonna be good, but you definitely can't possibly be prepared for how weird and fucked it's going to be as well. This is so awesomely lo-fi, machine like drums (drum machine we presume) are the focus, WAY up in the mix, louder than everything else except maybe the vocals. The guitars are a churning throbbing pulse more than actual riffing, the vocals a harsh growl laid over everything. The only time you can actually hear the notes and riffs are when things slow down to a dirge and the blast beat becomes a mechanical plod. But the second the blast beat begins again, the guitars become a muted blur and suddenly it's some strange alien industrial jam.
In fact, in a lot of ways, it's hard not to hear Godflesh or Pitchshifter in these songs. The drums are so industrial and relentless, a pounding that defines the sound here. Imagine if Godflesh had been into black metal, this is almost what it would have had to sound like. The slow parts are equally strange, with huge sweeps of ultra cinematic keyboards nearly swallowing up everything else, making the guitar buzz seem tiny, and the drums sound like throwing rocks against an aluminum garage door, everything during those slow parts is about the epic synths, moody and melodramatic, before the drums kick back in and we're back in black metal Godflesh territory.
Some of the best moments are when those two sounds mix, the sweeping synths, and the industrial pound, and during those stretches the drum machine seems to stumble, struggling amidst a black sea of synth swells and crunchy guitar buzz. Elsewhere, there are weird backwards gongs (at least that's what it sounds like) strange circusy piano melodies, haunting chantlike vocals, the sounds of birds, mechanical clanging and clatter, all wrapped up in the record's machine-like black pound.
As if it wasn't obvious by now, this is most definitely the weirdest Graveland record, managing to push both our old school industrial buttons and our grim damaged black metal buttons, AT THE SAME TIME!! The more we listen to this, and we can't seem to stop, the more it seems inevitable that Drunemeton is quite possibly our new favorite Graveland record.
Another crushing blast of grim blackness from this Polish black metal institution. Darken and his Graveland weave epic tales of Viking glory, wolves and swords, victory and bloodshed, fire and vengeance. As with many BM outifts, all of this Nordic (umm... Polish?) pride is really only one step removed from super problematic racial politics, seemingly always a part of black metal discussions, but as with Burzum and other groups of that ilk, you just have to decide if you can ignore the subtext and disregard the politics and enjoy the mesmerizingly buzzy blast of hypnotic black-drone-metal. It's hard not to, when presented with a disc as fucking amazing as this, all of stuff we loved about Graveland in the past, all honed to utter perfection, that thick layered droning black metal, is now somehow even more dense and majestic, huge slabs of guitars piled atop one another, all over thrashing relentless drumming, haunting minor key melodies buried deep beneath thick fuzzy swirls of droning riffery, but this time, there's a much bigger focus on vocals, lush swells of chant-like moans, Arvo Part like choral interludes, all add a certain gravitas, a creepy epic heaviness, that truly turns this into more than just another black metal record. It's like a black metal Godspeed You Black Emperor composing the soundtrack to Kurasawa's Ran, so epic and haunting and fucking MASSIVE, it's hard to listen to this without imagining all of the images the music is meant to project: huge black clouds of smoke drifting above burning funeral pyres, rivers running black with blood, the air dense with arrows, bloodied blades and mud caked armor, the stench of death and decay, the mysterious final trip to stand beside all of the fallen warriors from eons past. A massively epic, ultra intense, hauntingly majestic, crushing, droning black metal masterpiece.
While they last we have the super deluxe oversized hardcover book version (limited to 1000 copies), once we run out of those you'll get the regular jewel case version (which also happens to be cheaper!).
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Ahhh Graveland, Viking black metal from Poland! One of the most infamous groups in the BM scene, reviled by many, hated by many more, dismissed as a poseur by still more, politically abhorrent, but musically, it's tough to argue with the last nearly twenty years of iconic and legendary black metal classics: Carpathian Wolves, Thousand Swords, Immortal Pride, Creed Of Iron, Memory And Destiny, The Fire Of Awakening, Dawn Of Iron Blades, Will Stronger Than Death, Spears Of Heaven, we've raved about most of these on the aQ site, from the twisted almost industrial blackness of the first few releases, to the epic folk flecked pagan blackness that defined most of the rest, we love this stuff, and yet two of our favorites we never got to list, as they were reissued and went out of print before the aQ list, so now, thanks to Forever Plagued, these two slabs of grim black hate are available again. For more on Graveland, the music, the politics and all that stuff, check out any of the many other reviews on the aQ site, otherwise, prepare to enter the hellish buzzing black soundworld of the legendary Graveland...
In The Glare Of Burning Churches, is Graveland's legendary 1993 demo, and begins as you would hope, with what sounds like the recording of a burning church, the smoldering crackle of fire consuming wood, all set to hysterical female shrieks and some sort of folk music, a truly strange into, but then Graveland was always a fairly strange proposition, it doesn't take long before the song proper explodes in a harsh blast of hellish hateful blackness, the guitars buzzy and buried underneath the wild shrieking croaked vokills, and the stumbling blasts, the soaring synths, this is total old school epic blackness, which barring some darksynth interludes, and some stretches of droned out ambience, is how the rest of the record plays out, and this version, is apparently an alternate version of the original, which features way harsher vocals, and more intense and harrowing sonics. Lo-fi and raw, but seriously fierce and feral and fucked up and about as scary and intense as black metal gets. This reissue also includes the bonus ep that was tacked on to the now out of print No Colours version, featuring way more keyboards and a weirdly lush sound, as well as a handful of bonus tracks. For the black of heart, and the black of soul...
Not sure what to say about this other than BUY IT NOW... it's one of those black metal records that we'd recommend even to normally-non-black-metal music purchasers, if you're into checking out something weird, a metal record with layers of droning guitar texture and shifting tempos, speeding up then slowing down, creating an almost avant-garde metal psychedelia. For the metal fans, we'll provide some further elucidation... There's a definite black metal elite that everyone is familiar with: Burzum, Satyricon, Burzum, Emperor, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Ulver and all those folks. But there is also a more underground elite, even more grim and frosty and brutal and buzzing. Think Judas Iscariot, Nargaroth, Veles, Moonblood, Carpathian Forest and of course the mighty Graveland. This is not really all that new, but since we were finally able to get enough to list (and because there is a new Graveland on the horizon) we figured we should get this one listed cause it's so completely amazing. So, now that most of the underground is dead, and Burzum has become a Nazi Peter And The Wolf, and Darkthone is getting thrashier and sillier, and Satyricon is pretty much techno, it's basically left to the dynamic duo of Poland's Graveland and Germany's Nargaroth to keep the real blackened flame burning. While Nargaroth blaze and buzz, and spit blurry buzzsaw black metal in furious spurts, Graveland sort of stumble and careen chaotically, never really moving much faster than a midtempo gallop, with drumming that struggles and flails under sheets of corrosive fuzz. That's exactly where Graveland shines, they're not fast but rather thick and layered, they're not technical, rather droning and simple, very reminiscent of prime Burzum. Soaring majestic melodies drone beneath ambling blackened waltzes, buried beneath layers and layers of blackened grimness, or grim blackness, or whatever it is that gives Memory And Destiny such a suffocatingly dense sound. Anyone who digs the divine darkness of all the above mentioned bands should bow down before Graveland and let the droning dirge of Memory And Destiny envelop your soul and crush your body into dust.
More archival weirdness from legendary one man black metal horde Graveland. Necromanteion gathers up the first two demos from way back in 1992, and for those of you who remember the Drunemeton release, another collection of Graveland oldies, the sounds on Necromanteion might not be surprising, but for the rest of you, who haven't yet sampled the damaged weirdness that is early Graveland, you're in for a bit of a shock.
The sound while still plenty grim and black and buzzy, is also very industrial, mechanical, looped sounding, in fact if anything, old Graveland sound more like Godflesh or Pitchshifter than any other black metal band. The drums are programmed, and super simple, pounding and repetitive, the guitars super blown out, crumbling with distortion, and the drums and guitar are locked into lurching lumbering looped sounding dirge, the sound of some ancient black machine churning out a filthy industrial blackness, and then there are the vocals, a growling gurgle so low it's almost inaudible, the sort of monstrous grunt that would be more at home on a gore grind record than a black metal record, but that just adds to the weirdness, and makes this some of our favorite Graveland EVER.
There's some awesome primitive and demented sounding keyboard interludes, the notes clipped and dropping out, off kilter and so twisted. There's some creepy black ambience as well, and at least one song sort of blasts, more like a gallop, but the strange hollow sounding programmed drums and sea shanty grunts turn it into something completely twisted.
The second demo is even cooler, the roughest recording, totally in the red, blown out, so distorted it's almost impossible to tell what's going on, but the tolling bells, and growling vocals, the clean guitars, and long droned out ambience, are all transformed into some sort of inadvertent avant outsider black dronemusic, laced with plenty of motorik beats, fractured melodies, and some seriously fucked up noise drenched atmosphere.
Incredible! As much as we love more recent Graveland, we find ourselves always returning to these earlier recordings, they're just so fucked up and demented, and so unlike any other (sort of) black metal you've ever heard...
Ahhh Graveland, Viking black metal from Poland! One of the most infamous groups in the BM scene, reviled by many, hated by many more, dismissed as a poseur by still more, politically abhorrent, but musically, it's tough to argue with the last nearly twenty years of iconic and legendary black metal classics: Carpathian Wolves, Thousand Swords, Immortal Pride, Creed Of Iron, Memory And Destiny, The Fire Of Awakening, Dawn Of Iron Blades, Will Stronger Than Death, Spears Of Heaven, we've raved about most of these on the aQ site, from the twisted almost industrial blackness of the first few releases, to the epic folk flecked pagan blackness that defined most of the rest, we love this stuff, and yet two of our favorites we never got to list, as they were reissued and went out of print before the aQ list, so now, thanks to Forever Plagued, these two slabs of grim black hate are available again. For more on Graveland, the music, the politics and all that stuff, check out any of the many other reviews on the aQ site, otherwise, prepare to enter the hellish buzzing black soundworld of the legendary Graveland...
The Celtic Winter was originally released in 1994, and is another blast of Early Graveland, when they were still raw and primitive, like In The Glare Of Burning Churches, this one also starts out with an intro to set the mood, thick swaths of ominous synthesizer, buzz and rumble beneath the sounds of a village in the midst of some sort of battle, horses and footsteps, the clank of armor and chainmail, shouts and shrieks, all underpinned by haunting minor key melodies, very dramatic and intense, which leads directly into "Call Of The Black Forest" which immediately reveals a subtly changed sound since In The Glare..., the shrieks are dialed way back, the guitars are less jagged and harsh, the whole sound is more 'metal'. less frenzied raw blackness, more churning chugging classic old school metal, still rife with epic soaring synth swells, majestic melodies, the sound surprisingly thick and full, and unlike the records that came before (In The Glare Of Burning Churches, Drunemeton, Necromanteion), this is the first one to hint at the Graveland sound to come, more epic, more Viking, the sound here still raw and buzzy, but definitely reaching toward something much more sweeping and lush. Not to say this isn't grim, or hateful, it most certainly is, but it also just so happens to wrap that hateful grimnity in lots of keyboard, and way more melody, which is not a bad thing at all...
We recently listed the utterly amazing Memory And Destiny album by Polish black metal legends Graveland, a frosty and cult masterpiece of blazing buzzing black metal fury, droning and hypnotic, with unpredictable rhythms and stumbling blast beats. Not exactly new at the time, but we were finally able to get enough to list, and we also wanted to whet everyone's appetites for a new Graveland album, which is finally here! The Fire Of Awakening continues in a similar direction as Memory And Destiny although with a few surprises. The opening track for instance, is remarkably catchy, that's right catchy, with a riff that will stick in your head like a pop song. Granted it's swathed in distorted fuzz and battling thrashing midtempo drums and an angelic chorus, but it's a pretty amazing hook! Fear not though, the riff is subsumed soon enough into utter blackness, with epic Nordic riffery and tribal bleakness butted up against each other, while the drumming gallops unsteadily along, and sing songy folk melodies buzz wildly atop the melee. The best part of Graveland is how they switch from part to part, even though the parts don't seem to fit together at all. It gives everything this struggling, chaotic, almost messy feel, which totally adds energy and immediacy to what could otherwise be straight ahead black metal. Not a lot of blast beats either. Like Nargaroth, Graveland putter along at a hypnotic, trance inducing midtempo lope, with attempts at anything faster resulting in even more stumbling chaos! So epic and furious and heavy and intense and mesmeric and absolutely brilliant. Still problematic politically, however...
The return of our favorite Polish black metal Viking (huh?). Yep, it's Graveland, the master of epic and majestic Viking flecked black buzz. Graveland IS Rob Darken, perpetually clad in his helmet and tunic, armed with sword and shield, unfurling mighty tales of bloody battles and mighty journeys, of life and death, of blood oaths and sworn vengeance. All told through incredibly expansive blackened soundscapes, rife with killer drumming, awesome riffs, sweeping keyboard swells, Arvo Part like background vocals and tons of moody black ambience.
As�with lots of records like this, and and as we've mentioned before, the whole Viking angle, and the Nordic pride thing is basically only one step removed (if that) from some very abhorrent racial politics, which unfortunately seem to often be a part of black metal. So as with lots of those bands, Burzum, Nokturnal Mortum, and others, you just have to figure out if you can enjoy the sounds and ignore the politics. It's a bit of a bummer, that a record this amazing has to be marred by that sort of thinking (no matter how subtle) but if you can make it past that, and enjoy Will Stronger Than Death for what it is, an emotionally and personally charged piece of musical art, you're in for what might possibly be the best Graveland record yet.�
Gone are the days of inept drumming and stumbling rhythms, Darken has perfected his sound. Epic and expansive, open and majestic, and so so tight. Usually the one man band suffers in some department, maybe the one man is not such a hot drummer, or not the best singer, but this is prime Graveland, heavy and hooky, with tons of varied parts, an incredibly rich sonic palette, at it's core still a blast of grim buzzing blackness, but Graveland has turned into something so much more.�
On first listen, very little has changed since the last disc, in fact, in lots of ways it sounds like�The Fire Of Awakening Part 2, which as far as we're concerned is just fine. The drums sound better than ever, instead of loping midtempos or furious blasts, there are plenty of cool, un-black metal beats, weird double snare hit, some of it surprisingly mathy, they perfectly compliment Darken's knack for the droning repetitive riffing, adding a whole 'nother layer of sound.�
The guitars are massive, downtuned and buzzing, but weaving elaborate tapestries of black sound, some of it bordering on rock and roll, but not in a cheesy way, just an out of the ordinary way, which is maybe why some of these riffs are so damn catchy. But it's the strange vocals that take Graveland's sound to a whole other level, the aforementioned Arvo Part reference should tell you all you need to know. Gorgeous harmonies, choral backdrops to what would otherwise be simple buzzing black metal. It's like a black metal Godspeed sometimes, super dramatic and cinematic. So good.�
At first we were a bit bummed by how similar this disc was to The Fire Of Awakening, but the more we listen to it, the more we realize ho different it really is and how much more is going on and how much has changed musically. Even if you think you've got all the Graveland you need, think again.�
While they last we have the super deluxe oversized hardcover A5 book version (limited to 2000 copies), once we run out of those you'll get the regular jewel case version which will also be cheaper!
BTW: We used to mock Darken's constant battle gear, posing in every photo in his armor and chainmail, always with some sort of weapon, but a close look at the thanks list reveals it may be a little bit more than just playing dress up, since he thanks the Great Warriors from Slavic and Viking Reenactment Groups!
The metal label Stormspell's motto is "Old farts stuck In the '80s and proud of it". They're the folks who have been bringing us a lot of cool cd reissues of obscure, cult metal bands from the '80s (such as Max Planck, Xinr and Detest), some of 'em as part of Stormspell's ongoing "Red White and Heavy Arcane Collector Series For The Initiated" featuring long-lost demos from bands that are SO cult and obscure they never even got signed to make a proper album.
Well, the old farts at Stormspell have now found some young bands also stuck in the '80s, and have begun a new series of releases, putting these bands' demos out on cd but this time not waiting 30 years to do it. Fantastically dubbed the "Jewels Of Gwahlur" series (the Jewels Of Gwahlur being the macguffin of a Conan story of the same name), five volumes have now been released, and we're reviewing 'em all this list. It's a bit like something else Stormspell did some years ago, the "Thrash Clash" series of splits by underground thrash acts. But these bands are even more "old school" in sound.
Each entry in the series comes in nice trifold digi-wallet packaging, the covers pretty much identical except for the band logos, with a standardized "bejewelled ancient leather tome" look, a la the 3rd Edition D&D rulebooks if you're familiar with those; doubtless some of these bands are! However, despite the uniform design, each entry in the series gets its own unique artwork on the inside, as well as credits, liner notes, etc. Most of these discs are ep-length, around 4-6 tracks, but it should be noted that they're quite cheaply priced. So even though we're reviewing each one individually you might as well buy 'em all and let your cd player sort 'em out! As for us, we're looking forward to hearing more from all these bands (pretty sure we will!), and are curious as to what further Jewels Of Gwahlur will be uncovered by Stormspell in the future.
GRAVEN RITE from Texas play "arcane heavy metal", super epick, doomy, and majestically melodic, with commanding but melancholic vocals delivered with a slight nasal inflection. Inspired by pulp swords & sorcery fantasy of the Weird Tales variety, the five tracks this five piece offer up here should especially appeal to fans of Manilla Road. This is definitely the sort of thing that if it came out in the '80s (which it sounds like it could have) would be highly sought after by collectors and probably reissued by a label like Stormspell! Alternate universe mission accomplished. Out of the whole Jewels Of Gwahlur series, this one and Volume III by Terminus, are vying for being our personal top faves.
Warp Records roams into back into earthen folk territory with Gravenhurst's six song follow-up to last year's full length, Flashlight Seasons. For those unfamiliar, Gravenhurst is the lone man Nick Talbot from Bristol, England with a little help from his friends such as Miriam Goldberg of Black Forest / Black Sea who slips to play guitar, cello and omnichord on this six song EP's lead-off and title track. Just over a half hour of lengthy, slow creeping murder ballad style numbers including a fine cover of Husker Du's "Diane". Beautiful!
Admittedly we're doing a little catching up here. After gettin' and diggin' Gravenhurst's most recent ep "Black Holes In The Sand" we went back and revisited his full length from last year. This time around it really struck a chord... and a good one at that! Sorta like Kings Of Convenience and/or Simon And Garfunkel on a serious country downer. Mainman Nick Talbot's willowy vocal harmonies are almost weep-inducing while the notes from a slide guitar descend like raindrop sliding off leaves as high pretty chimes pluck at your heart strings. Sigh! Do not miss "Bluebeard", the album's fourth and perhaps one of the Talbot's best songs. So good! And y'know what? He's got a new album right around the corner. Can't wait!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Surprising Utech release here, not (quite) so droney as they often are, but rather more rhythmic, and in fact downright prog-rocky. Graves And Orchestra Pits are a transcontinental two-piece, one guy (based in Stuttgart, Germany) on guitars, synths, and much else besides; the other guy (from Tokyo, Japan) on drums and electronics... Not sure how they got together, but they make a fine team, stirring up a lot of noise in a quirky, confusional, chamber-prog context. The beats are big and effected, going whap whap whap, amidst all sorts of interesting textures, some of this quite lovely really. Droned out blissful bits coexist with electronic glitch, gentle strings wrap 'round crashing cymbals, snatches of electronica intersect improv skitter... each track adding something new to the sonic stew. A compelling listen, these eight unique, instrumental mini-epics of full of fractured melody, odd noises, and disturbing drumming...
The duo format, and Japanese drummer, and overall kinetic energy, makes us think of the Ruins, but this, with its "Orchestra Pits" moniker, has an additional, avant-garde classical music gone wrong atmosphere to it, field recordings and found sounds juxtaposed with piano and glockenspiel... Plus, guests contribute violin, viola, vibes, flute, sax, etc. on a few of the tracks. So it's not exactly a stripped down sound, this is dense and chaotic and complex, though calm and sparse some of the time too, to catch you unawares.
Packaged in the usual slim, slightly oversized Utech style sleeve, and limited to just 300 copies!!
Imagine the standard doom/dirge band to be a large rock, nestled solidly in the earth. Well, pry that rock up, tip it over, and see what slimy, wriggling, many-legged or legless creepy-crawlies squirm in the dark, damp dirt beneath -- that's the shuddering sludge sickness that Graves At Sea make sure you hear in their music.
We know a lot of AQ's sludge-doom lovin' customers are already into this band, judging from the number of copies of their split release with Asunder that we've sold. And if you live on the west coast, perhaps you've been a witness to one of their live shows, a bloody spectacle as we recall... LA's Graves At Sea (not to be confused with the equally doomy Buried At Sea from Chicago) take their doom way seriously. From the bulldozing, slowed down, headbanging riffage from the guitars/bass to the rasping, snarling, distorted, animal vokills of their singer Nathan (appropriately credited in this cd booklet with "hissing goblin tongue/evangelist of misery"), this is HEAVY nastiness for fans of Khanate, Corrupted, Eyehategod, Unearthly Trance, and all other heavy as hell, feedbacking freaks. Actually, let's look and see what else it says in the cd booklet about what some of the other Graves At Sea bandmembers are responsible for... we've got Nick on "sluggish wall of murky despair", Steve on "crushing storm of fire and brimstone" and Roger on "timbre of submarsh sludge". Heck they practically wrote their own review right there!
Four songs, half-an-hour. Originally a cd-r release from '03 (their debut recording), now at last on cd, adorned with much better cover art.
They're baaaack... well, we knew that already since we just listed these newly resurrected sludge merchants' totally killer split with Sourvein. Here's a new 12" as well! The A-side features the heavy-as-heck title track, a suitably caustic and corrosive doomdirge onslaught for which the only antidote is deafness - or death. The B-side is perhaps even more intriguing, as it consists of two Black Sabbath covers. The acoustic "Orchid" is seemingly quite a departure from the usual Graves At Sea sound, yet they manage to make it as creepy and foreboding as anything in their catalog, and even a serious Sabbath fan might not know it was "Orchid"; Graves At Sea's interpretation certainly much more sinister-sounding than Sabbath's original version, adding a sampled (?) voiceover and martial marching rhythm. Then, they blast into "Lord Of This World", Sabbath's famous riffs certainly recognizable this time, but slowed down a tad, and encrusted with megatons of filth. It's Sabbath taken to a blackened, abject extreme, Graves At Sea making the song their own, in other words.
Limited (1000 copies), very nice metallic gold-on-black packaging, includes download code.
Imagine that this split release is a see-saw, with Graves At Sea on one side and Asunder on the other. They're both so heavy that the teeter-totter wouldn't totter, but simply snap in the middle, leaving both bands sitting there, glaring at one another, having no fun at all. But no fun sounds good, if you like doom like we do. And both of these bands do the doom quite well, ultra low and slow -- so slow that just to make it through a song they need at least ten minutes (the two Graves At Sea tracks clock in at 10:45 and 11:16 while Asunder's contribution lasts 18:59) and you'll need a dose of anti-depressants. I mean, is this a split release or a suicide pact?
Graves At Sea (who had a cd-r release a while ago, but as yet no full-length cd) are from LA and basically are along the lines of Khanate, Burning Witch, or Corrupted -- nasty, feedbacking, hateful sludgecore, with a dreadlocked vocalist (known as the "bloody guy" around here) who spits out a screech like Edgy from BW or Khanate's Alan Dubin. And they're not to be confused with Buried At Sea, by the way, although both bands play music dug from the same charnel pit!
Graves At Sea make a perfect pairing with Asunder, who are the Bay Area's contribution to the "funereal doom" subgenre, aligning with the likes of Skepticism, Evoken, and Disembowelment. Majestic and morose metal played at a glacial pace, with both the use of cellos and the presence of ex-Weakling guitarist/vocalist John Gossard giving 'em extra dismal atmosphere. Their track here is definitely in the vein of their epick A Clarion Call album from last year.
Man, we'd thought that Graves At Sea were long gone, sunken deep into some pit in the ground, maybe playing their ultra doom dirges for the denizens of Hell at this point, but no longer active in our surface world. Turns out the band, in fact defunct since 2008, recently reformed with a new lineup, so they're essentially back from the grave (back from the sea?) - and here's a new recording from 'em, on a split with another hoary bunch of heavies, Sourvein, whom we haven't kept up with lately either, but are also are still kicking out the stoner sludge jams like every day's doomsday.
Graves At Sea take the first half of this split, with two tracks, each over seven minutes long, their blown-out, droned-out sludge stomp as forceful and abject as ever. Headbanging to this makes your skull feel like it weighs a thousand pounds. Their vokills are like we remember 'em too, a gruff shrieking gargle that sometime sounds witchy in a way - not witchy like all those sultry female "occult rock" singers, but witchy like a cackling hag putting a curse on you. (It's a dude singing by the way, we don't want to mislead.) Awesome shit, bad vibes you can rock out to.
The Sourvein half is awesome shit too, three tracks of their slo-mo, Southern Sabbathy sludge sound, pretty much as heavy but more spaced out and psychedelic than the Graves stuff, not quite so grim, the vocals a bit more wasted Ozzyish, the riffs and leads a bit more overtly classic '70s inspired - man, makes us realize we need to go back and check out the Sourvein recordings we've slept on - the last thing we reviewed by them was back in 2005, must rectify that pronto!
Both bands kill it here, a superb split for anyone into the sludge!! (FYI, there's also vinyl of this, we should get some soon...)
Here is the second disc from local all stars The Graves Brothers Deluxe. made up of former members of Thin White Rope, Granfaloon Bus, Dingle and Lunchbox. An eclectic record with moods ranging from loungy and crooning to psychedelic-rockabilly to jazzy, quirky, and experimental. There is an instrumental, very soundtrack-like number, and some crazy Zappa or Mr. Bunglesqe moments. Impressive instrumentation done by talented musicians, but a bit too wacky and all over the place for my taste. I think fans of previous endeavours will like some of the songs but I doubt many will like all of them.
Good solid indie rock with enormous energy from local group, featuring two guys from Thin White Rope, and members of Granfaloon Bus and Lunchbox. Fans of Thin White Rope, Giant Sand will enjoy this.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Another batch of essential and long overdue ESP reissues. This one is ALL drums. And like I've been saying all along, guitars and bass and piano, are all very nice and everything, and sometimes they even sound good in a band, but all you ever really need is
Second solo percussion album by veteran '60s free jazzer Graves to be released on Tzadik, and this is similar to his first: energetic free drumming and some vocal outbursts as well. The obi text describes him "playing with his hands, feet, elbows and head..." which is apparently true, but the obi also says that this is "absolutely riveting". Depends on your defintion of riveting I suppose. Perhaps best seen rather than just heard, although fans may enjoy.
For a lot of young Swedes, it's apparently still 1973... what with bellbottomed bands like Witchcraft, Horisont, Noctum, Dead Man, and Graveyard, eh? Here's the latest from the latter, their second full-length, and yeah as the title suggests - and as everyone who heard their self-titled, stonery debut would expect - it's heavy '70 style blues rock, all right, rollin' and tumblin' with amped up urgency and authentic analog-recorded old school mojo.
As always, Graveyard remind us a bit of aforementioned fellow countrymen Witchcraft, with whom they share roots in the late '90s band Norrsken (when oh when will there be a reissue of that awesome band's obscure output we wonder?!). For that matter, both bands also share members with another outfit, Spiders, that we've reviewed some singles by recently. But Graveyard do their psychedelic blues thing their own way, with less of Witchcraft's admitted Pentagram influence for one thing. Instead, we're (again) hearing echoes of good ol' Monster Magnet. Maybe even Thee Hypnotics. And of course the '70s bands, that inspired those bands...
Graveyard's vocalist has a nice raspy edge to his voice when he wants, like when wailing away on opener "Ain't Fit To Live Here", one example of the many galloping rockers to be found on this disc... which also has its moody slow moments, take the lovely, lumbering 2nd track "No Good, Mr. Holden" with its backwards effects, for instance. Or the wide-open spaces, spaghetti western whistling atmospherics of "Longing", which sounds like a nod to Ennio Morricone, or maybe to Bjorn Olsson. Fans of another very '70s sounding Swedish band (and AQ-fave), Elope, should feel right at home with this more mellow side of Hisingen Blues.
Furthermore, while the amount of cowbell and whoo-whoo backing vocals found here could come across as cliched in lesser hands, Graveyard sound like they really mean it, these tracks possessing real emotional resonance alongside their retro radness.
From experience, we know they're a great live band, but this is the sort of record that would make you very much suspect that, anyway. Will we get to hear 'em kick out these jams in person sometime soon? Sure hope so!
Andrew: "Ugh. Is this Soundgarden?"
Andee: "I hope this isn't the new Graveyard."
The curse of "success rock" strikes again.
Disappointing (to us) but maybe not as bad as we are making it out to be. We should listen to it again. But proabably won't.
When we tell you there's a band from Sweden, a bunch of longhairs who look liked they just stepped out of 1973, playing heavy, psychedelic, blues-based rock n' roll with sinister, occult themes, who do you think we're talking about? And then what if we tell you, nooooo they're not Witchcraft. And not Burning Saviours or Dead Man either. Meet another excellent Swedish stoner-doom outfit, Graveyard, who sound something like Witchcraft meets Monster Magnet. The vocals are very Wyndorf (with some hints of ol' Glenn Danzig too).
Unlike Witchcraft, and the first two Burning Saviours albums, Graveyard probably wouldn't entirely fool anyone told this was allegedly a long-lost '70s proto-metal gem. Not that it sounds modern, but it does sound like they've heard their share of '90s stoner rock (the singer also sometimes reminds us of John Garcia from Kyuss). And then there's the aforementioned Monster Magnetism. Nothing we don't like, though! Perhaps you remember another band of Swedes, heavy psych throwbacks Roachpowder? Graveyard are in that tradition, and if there's one thing that Swedish bands can do, is uphold tradition! Whether it be with the warm, analog-recorded guitar tones, dark riffs that run from Sabbath to Samhain, and the general bewitched and bellbottomed vibe, Graveyard have got the goods.
Another killer warehouse find, dug up a little handful of these, probably the last copies we'll ever see...
Yet more tripped out psychedelic noisescaping from this Wolf Eyes offshoot, featuring John Olson and crew, who offer up a gorgeously creepy, harrowing abject free jazz dronescape, that pairs skronk with rumble, shimmer with crunch, the result a haunting sprawl of cinematic dronemusick that sounds like the score for some lost Euro thriller. Moaning clouds of metallic thrum, plenty of clang and thump, creaks and scrapes, but muted and minimal, sinewave tones drift way off in the distance, squalls of gnarled electronics, weird fragmented melodies, sorrowful, bursts of percussive freakout, bits of skronk, tangled rubbery basslines, tinkling chimes, fluttery woodwinds, whirring wheezing buzz, deep resonant gongs, all woven and blurred into a surprisingly subdued jazzdronescape, cinematic and hushed, the sound of flickering firelight, of cloud choked skies and dim dank abandoned buildings. A sound that manages to be super spare and abstract, but really tight, improvised for sure, but these sounds mesh perfectly into something that sounds almost composed, a brooding sonic desolate gloom, a sort of doom jazz, or some sort of post industrial free jazz dronemusic, whatever it is we're digging it big time.
Beautiful cover art to boot!
Just in time for Enterruption's big San Francisco 3 day music festival 'Sight Sounds Liberties' featuring Gravitar's first West Coast performance in 6 years, cones the ultimate Gravitar document. Split into two different versions, each with different
Just in time for Enterruption's big San Francisco 3 day music festival 'Sight Sounds Liberties' featuring Gravitar's first West Coast performance in 6 years, cones the ultimate Gravitar document. Split into two different versions, each with different
Instrumental ferocity from this Michigan-based trio of feedbacking guitar, wild drums, and heavily processed brass that sound like a full on army of horns dumped underwater, struggling chaotically and desperately to get to the surface. Intense. Amusingly yet
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Michigan weirdos unite!
It's pretty amazing, that the Gravity Adjusters Expansion Band have been making music since 1967, and we hadn't even heard of them until about a week ago. Part of the reason might be that their first lp, released in 1973, was an ultra limited pressing on a tiny label. And that the second, in 1981, was equally hard to come by. Which is a shame as this is some seriously Aquarius type stuff.
But better late than never, and boy are we digging this stuff like crazy. The whole concept and sound of GAEB was based around sculptor / musician Richard Waters and his hand made instruments, essentially sound making sculptures, many of which incorporated water filled resonators used to bend and tweak and twist the sounds. So cool.
Just check out the list of instruments: diatonic sound generator, bazooki, pipe drums, Aeolian space horn, synthesizer, waterphones, mytar, saws, bass violin, horizontal and upright phoniums, birdcalls, microtonal revolving sound generator, sgourd (?), superball mallets, water gong drums, log drums, springs, keyboards, assorted gourds, Princess oil can and more. Phew. From the list you can pretty much deduce that the sound of One is mainly percussive, but calling this a percussion record would be way too reductive. Instead, this is a sprawling exploration of ambient sound, very reminiscent of GAEB's sonic compatriots Taj Mahal Travellers and AMM. The Gravity Adjusters Expansion Band take percussive sounds and spread them way out, letting the overtones and reverberations shimmer and merge, so while these are still distinctly rhythmic arrangements, with plenty of tolling and chiming and ringing peppered with random bits of clatter and clang, the various sounds and their after affects create soft billows of background burble, muted melodic murmurs and all manner of sweetly sonorous and slow shifting soundscapes, each track a lush sonic explorartion of bowed metals and vibrating strings, of objects both struck and stroked, a potential cacophony smoothed into lengthy dreamlike shimmers. So completely mesmerizing.
You can of course hear traces of modern outfits like Avarus, No Neck, Sunburned Hand and the like, bands who obviously owe quite a debt to groups like The Taj Mahal Travellers and GAEB, but the sounds on One manage to sound completely unique, perhaps because of the time period, or maybe the music making process, or even the instruments themselves, hand made and impossible to duplicate, most likely all of those things. Whatever the reasons, One is fantastic, a simply gorgeous, an intimate collection of improvised ambient beauty.
Includes 15 minutes of unreleased bonus material, as well as a booklet with liner notes, original sleeve notes and lots of photos!
So recommended.
Yay! It's a new outing from one of the most wildest, sassiest & sauciest bands anywhere on the globe. Of course they live right here in the Bay Area doing us proud and carrying the torch for carefree, queer & proud, all-out fun in your face pop that draws just as much from bubble-gum and girl-groups as it does garage rock, electro-pop and riot grrl. All The Sweet Stuff is by far their best album so far, with guests like Sugar & Gold on a few tracks and Hey Willpower adding his sexy voice to a Frenchified version of Dee-Lite's "Call Me." Filling that great American void of party-pop that folks abroad have been doing so well (CSS, Bonde De Role, Stereo Total). There is no one else we'd like to play our party than Gravy Train. They are like the bouncy offspring of the Cockettes & The B-52's. They make you wanna stay up late and see midnight movies, and have a slumber party, eat lots of candy, make crank calls, and play a scandalous round of spin the bottle. If the kids know what's good for them they'll all be jumping on the Gravy Train and so should anyone with a young heart and a taste for trashiness done so right!
Am I wigglin!? You know I am! Gravy Train's second full-length release features thee summer punk-wave grit-pop jamm, "Darque Tan", as well as the, to put it lightly, sexually-leaning "Ghost Boobs" and "Pussy Sauce". This super-cute San Francisco foursome pick up where Fannypack's "Cameltoe" left off and take it to a whole new level of over-sexed summer fun! If you love sarcastic, sassy, ghoulishly artsy & lo-fi, electro hyper post-punk, you MUST get on the Gravy Train!!! Also for fans of Les Georges Leningrad, Veronica Lipgloss, good ol' Peaches, etc.
Note bene: this is NOT the same band as the proggy Gravy Train from Lancershire, England circa 1971. If you read through this review and listened to the sound samples and still questioned it, hmmm.... you get a big spanking.
