[ aquarius records catalogue

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Holy shit, this is so fucked up, but in all the right ways. And thus, becomes our first ever CASSETTE Record Of The Week! One of those records that had EVERYone here sorta freaking out. And on it's first spin in the store, had all the folks in the back rushing up front to see what the heck was playing! Un Festin Sagital are an occult prog-metal / angular post-punk / psychedelic free noise / black ambient orchestra out of Santiago, Chile that can strip down to the touring essentials of just flute, acoustic guitar, and voice, when need be, in bellowing their complex tales of a forthcoming lysergic apocalypse. But here, it's the full sonic onslaught of Satanic chanting, frenzied tribal rhythms, heavy anthemic riffs, acid-crazed arrangements, and witch/warlock vocals that sound as if they were recorded at the wrong speed, all dotted with some rather pretty moments of psychedelic impressionism. Diabolically strummed flamenco guitar riffs erupt into blisteringly rhythmic assaults of start/stop rhythms that are equal parts King Crimson, Comus, and Uz Jsme Doma. Or imagine Dutch punks the Ex crossed with aQ Record Of The Weekers Yamantaka // Sonic Titan!! A sound that somehow simultaneously reminds us of bedeviled Eastern European peasant folk songs that could very well be possessed gypsy curses from some remote old world village in a muddled sonic palette that also evokes the Art Bears mixed with ritualistic Hindustani vocal modulations, or the Vietnamese girls on Holgar Czukay's "Boat Woman Song". The sound washed out under layers of tape decay and warble, the music seemingly patched together and reassembled in beautiful, yet twisted psych-folk interludes which meander between the volatile rhythmic outbursts with wah-wah inflected, acidic guitar lines and long dizzying sprawls of cinematic creep and kosmische electronics, creating spellbinding atmospheres and gorgeously stunning modern avant heaviness. Strange, fucked-up stuff. Supposedly a full length is in the works for Beta-Lactum Ring. C40. Limited to 100 copies! And so totally recommended!!

MPEG stream: Madre Bestia
MPEG stream: Devocion
MPEG stream: El Final (Tango Fallido)
MPEG stream: El Asesino Del Sol

This Chilean band holds the distinction of being the first band to get an Aquarius CASSETTE Of The Week award. Their Bestias Solares tape on Black Horizons so blew everyone here away, we couldn't not make it thus. And we later reviewed their double cd on Beta-Lactam Ring too, both of those records displaying this strange group's sound, a sound which found us describing the group, not at all succinctly, as an "occult prog-metal / angular post-punk / psychedelic free noise / black ambient orchestra". That's a pretty crazy and over the top description, but the this is a pretty crazy, over the top outfit, and we're happy to report, that they haven't gotten any less crazy this time around, in fact, to these ears, they keep getting weirder and weirder. The brief opener is all chanted monk-like vocal harmonies wrapped in warped, woozy electronics, hand-clappy drum machines, witchy female vocals, garbled speaking in tongues, strange FX, and while you might think it was just a weird intro, the next song continues down into the sonic rabbit hole, murky bass squelch, a pulsing almost techno beat, more swirling electronics, grunted demonic vocals, accompanying atonal piano pound, that piano exploding into wild psychedelic squiggles, while the rest of the track sounds submerged in fields of static, the result is a sort of warped, woozy, blackened, electro avant techno chamber music? Or something. It's sort of gothic, definitely freaky and fucked up, sort of electronic, whatever it is, we dig it, a LOT! The third track is a creaking, crumbling drone, that sounds like it could be some lost Nurse With Wound outtake, all deep dirge-y tectonic thrum, sounds like recordings of motorcycles or moaning docks, blurred into dense sonic swells, shot through with distant minor key melodies, dark and meditative, and a bit haunting as well. And finally, things finish off with another brief blast of WTF weirdness, deep drone-y thrum, under spacey synths, plucked pizzicato melodies, swirling wind like whirs, bizarre glitchy percussion, and near the end, primitive drum machine, and glimmering fields of sci-fi planetarium show electronics. So twisted. And so good. And like all Black Horzions tapes, super fancy packaging, four panel J-card, offset silver printing on bronze metallic paper, purple tapes, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES!!

MPEG stream: Terror Deluviano
MPEG stream: La Ofrenda Danzante Del Cuerpo Enamorado

This South American blackened dark-prog doom-noise psychedelia collective holds the distinction of having been the very first, and to this day only, CASSETTE Record Of The Week. And at the time, we were so blown away, we really had no choice, everything about Un Festin Sagital pushed all of our (and presumably your) buttons, occult prog metal meets creepy black ambient soundscapery, haunting minimal moodiness meets, propulsive post punk crush, howling metallic heft meets gently psychedelic folkiness, all wound up into one dizzying tangle of heady heaviness. Since then, we've dug deeper into the bands catalog, with much help from local label Black Horizons, who brings us yet another amazing collection of the group's tripped out sound, this one not that far removed from the others, if anything more of an extension, the sound sprawling and expansive, the opener especially, the group slipping into something more space rocky and dreamy, sounding almost like something you might expect to hear on Cardinal Fuzz, loping sinewy basslines, clouds of cymbal shimmer, fluttering flutes, minimal percussion, almost like a jazzier, soundtrackier Spacemen 3, hazy and hypnotic, before the sound builds to some seriously lysergic heavy psych, billowing clouds of FX drenched melodies, the drums more driving, eventually swathed in some seriously caustic noise guitar crunch. Holy shit, fans of the Heads and Carlton Melton and White Hills and all the rest, you might just want to check out these weirdos too. Cuz goddamn if the rest of the record doesn't fall in line, the second track two, laying down a dark, motorik groove, wreathed in sonic swirls, and with a huge krautrock vibe, again, following that tried and true space rock sonic template, the sound eventually building to a wild freak out, but instead of straight up shred, it's all wild scrabbly tangles, and distorted chugs, roiling piano rumbles, scalding arcs of white noise psych swirl, seriously epic space/psych rock for sure. But these guys are NOT space rockers, they just happen to do it better than most. So there's plenty of other mysterious moodiness happening. The sound devolving into some churning slo-mo-doom, still folk flecked, a cinematic sprawl that lurches from noisy crashing pummel, to hushed whispery drift, the whole second half sounding like the score from some lost Italian seventies giallo. From there on out, the band whip out some mathy stop start post punk angularity, more distortion drenched spaciness, some groovy organ soaked fusiony prog-jazz, again pocked with bursts of wild distorted noise rock crunch, until finally, things finish off with the epic 21 minute title track, the unfurls like the bastard child of all those space rock bands we love, the usual zoner drift, is transformed into what sounds like 3 or 4 bands playing at once, a frenzied cacophony, somehow held together but a buried rhythm section, the end result a sort of kraut-noise, that about halfway through settles into one final stretch of noisy, motorik kraut-prog mesmer, psychedelic and hypnotic, and really fucking great. As with all the Black Horizons tapes, super fancy packaging, this time an 8 panel J-card, silver metallic ink on green matte paper, inside a folded up mini-poster/insert, and as always, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES.

MPEG stream: Arboles Negros
MPEG stream: Lakonn
MPEG stream: Anubis: Sueno y Muerte
MPEG stream: El Asesino del Sol III

Last list, you may recall, we had as one of our Records Of The Week, what was more precisely a Cassette Of The Week, a tape on the Black Horizons label by a band of sonic surrealists from Santiago, Chile known as Un Festin Sagital. In that rave review, we mentioned that Un Festin Sagital had a full-length upcoming on the Beta-Lactam Ring label - which made perfect sense, what with Beta-Lactam putting out such weirdness as Nurse With Wound reissues among other things. Well, what we hadn't realized, is that Un Festin Sagital ALREADY had a couple Beta-Lactam cd releases to their credit, that we'd somehow overlooked. So, naturally, we need to review those too. This one's their most recent, from actually just a few months ago - a sprawling double cd set, one studio, one live, packaged in nice gatefold mini-lp style sleeve. And it's just as crazy and compelling as that tape that turned us on to 'em. We previously described UFS as a "occult prog-metal / angular post-punk / psychedelic free noise / black ambient orchestra" and that's still a good, broad description of what this experimental musical collective is up to - namely WTF? weirdness with a dark, moody vibe to it. The first disc's epic eight-part, 22+ minute opening track, "El Nino Ateo" should thoroughly infect you with Un Festin Sagital's lysergic musical sickness - or else cause the less stout of heart and eccentric of taste to flee in terror! It's like a sinister soundtrack, part symphonic 20th century classical, part distorted industrial churn, part krauty synth throb. There's eerie Magma-esque choral parts, mumbled incantations, screams, Satanic-sounding chant (shades of Igor Wakhevitch for sure); ominous haunting stretches of avant-classical murk replete with groans and drones and sudden, stabbing piano chords... Clearly "RIO" avant-prog chamber rock a la Art Zoyd is an inspiration, but Un Festin Sagital take it to absurd extremes. You could kind of imagine this is what modern-day aQ prog faves Guapo (who also have a fine new album reviewed this list) might sound like, if only they dwelled in some far off South American mountain village, wore animal masks, and chewed on hallucinogenic jungle plants all day. "El Nino Ateo" ranges from sheer mesmerism to utter mayhem and back again, as does the rest of this disc, the other three tracks dabbling in gentle acoustic folk ritual, exploding with spastic prog nuttery, and experimenting with atmospheric neo-classical soundscapery. And then there's the second disc, entitled La Muerte Solar, which was recorded live, but you wouldn't know that but for the occasional outburst of applause from the audience - which in UFS's strange sound-world, could easily be mistaken for just another intentional, sampled element of their collage-like compositions. Their 12+ minute rendition of "El Nino Ateo" here is a true tour de force, and the whole disc is easily the equal to the set's studio half. At their heaviest, they kind of remind us of Orthodox or Blizaro, at their spazziest of Uz Jsme Doma or The Ex, and at their weirdest of NWW or even Reynols (whose Alan Courtis has in fact guested on one of Un Festin Sagital's other albums). Throw in some Circle at their most "operatic", and one of Tatsuya Yoshida's improv groups, roll all that into a ball and smoke it, and you've got some idea of how freaky this shit is! Not every single moment here "works" but overall, yeah, it sure does.

MPEG stream: El Nino Ateo
MPEG stream: La Cancion Del Nino Ateo (Nacio, Bailo Y Murio)
MPEG stream: Sic Deus Dilexit Mundum
MPEG stream: Nino Ateo (live)

It's just a matter of time before one of SF's best kept hip-hop secrets becomes a household name. Unagi has proven to be one of the most consistent and challenging producers of forward-minded hip-hop, replete with nods to the old skool. His latest offering split pretty evenly between warm instrumentals and guest MC tracks that all fit together perfectly as a totally coherent album with NO filler. If you found yourself a little underwhelmed with the latest offerings from Blackalicious and DJ Shadow this might be exactly the record you've been waiting for.

MPEG stream: Shoulda Known Better
MPEG stream: Expanded and Up To Date

Here's the second album from SF's Unagi. For this follow-up to his well-received 2003 self-titled first album, he's set aside his vocals and overall DJ Shadow-ish stylings in favor of smoooth soul jams and diva samples. This makes for a rather unexpected shift in focus. Folks who dug Unagi's debut and who were eagerly expecting more might be in for a bit of a jolt. Whereas his previous full length was a totally funky hiphop album, Keepin' It Eel is pretty much a luv-yer-lady-down type of soundtrack! You almost expect Barry White to slip in for a nightcap.

MPEG stream: Condorman's Revenge
MPEG stream: Relocation Blues

Unagi has been one of the most solid forces in the Bay Area hip-hop scene over the last several years. With Reinventing The Eel he continues to display his great taste in vintage soul/funk inspired breaks and invites lots of guest MC's to join in, adding to the flow of these nicely layered tracks. Unagi is carrying on the hip hop tradition that folks like DJ Shadow and Hieroglyphics started a decade ago. We wouldn't be surprised if he ends up on Stones Throw one of these days as his beats and aesthetic would be a perfect fit.

MPEG stream: Liftoff
MPEG stream: Bird Of Paradise (Featuring Chee Malabar)

A fantastic record in the sampladelic genre: fans of DJ Shadow, Barry Adamson, David Holmes should take note! It's rare that we'd quote a press release in an AQ review, but in this case the reasons why I (Windy) like this record so much are exactly what's stated herein: "Unagi extends an invitation into his unique sonic wonderworld, constructed from forgotten vinyl and dollar bin digging. He serves up mid-fi sample based music, sidestepping the antiseptic production values dominating present day hip-hop. Influenced by luminaries such as Lonnie Liston Smith and Eumir Deodato, Unagi offers tracks carefully crafted with an ear refined through a lifetime of musical consumption. This self-titled debut album is a stylistic drive-by of love. Unagi's magazine is loaded with an array of themes ranging from space jazz, Caribbean cruise ship lounge, roller rink couples' skate and Sunday afternoon afterglow soul fusion."

MPEG stream: Crazy Chase
MPEG stream: Blown Away
MPEG stream: Tickle Time

This is quite possibly the most insane outsider-weirdo-grind-metal-what-the-fuck record we have ever heard. Imagine a super lo-fi grindcore, cobbled together from blasting lightning fast drum machines, shredding super tech lead guitars, super processed, almost mechanical riffs, and Melt Banana-like high pitched yelping vocals, all tossed in a blender and spat out at a million miles an hour. Only sometimes all you can hear are the vocals, or the drums disappear underneath an avalanche of guitars, or everything is so amped up it becomes a buzzy blur, topped with high pitched squeaks and yowls. Totally nuts. Imagine Arboga Teenage Riot jamming with Brutal Truth. Or two lps, one a Melt Banana, the other a Deerhoof, both being played simultaneously at 90 rpm, then chopped up and slowed back down to about 60 rpm. So completely dementedly amazing. 46 tracks, most between 30 seconds and 1 minute, no titles, just numbers, 33601 to 33640, except for the last few tracks numbered 1365Y-13659. Wonder if that means that before this lp, the band had already recorded 33,600 songs. We'd believe it! Fans of all the above mention bands and folks who just love the weirdest shit imaginable, this is definitely for you. LIMITED TO 300 COPIES, we only got 8... Pressed on clear red vinyl. Includes a printed insert, with a DVD of live performances. It's PAL though, so for those of you without the ability to play PAL discs, there's also a free video download of all the same footage.

Uncle Acid's debut came out of nowhere to be the runaway heavy rock hit of last year. And like the last Electric Wizard album, it was one of those rare records that seemed to leap all genre lines. Quickly becoming one of the most played records at aQ, with metalheads and non metalheads alike. Similarly, we sold TONS of them, and not just to heavy music folks. And it most definitely IS heavy. But like Ghost, and Goat, and other heavy bands people flipped for recently, the group's heaviness was tempered by heaping helpings of poppiness, that transformed what at first blush might seem simply like more Sabbath worship into something else entirely. Originally released in such tiny numbers that initial pressing disappeared before most anyone got a chance to grab it, that and the weird band name, and of course the 'mystery' surrounding the group and its members, resulted in the sort of hype most bands would kill for. But once we (and everybody else) got an earful, we were sold. Heavy and groovy and hooky, super psychedelic, totally rocking, with a very Ozzy-ish vocalist, killer songs that would have translated seemingly just as well to a non metal band, but metal it most definitely was, but the kind of groovy hook filled metal they just don't make so much anymore. Our first taste of this highly anticipated new record, Mind Control, came in the form of first single "Poison Apple", which pretty much takes up right where Blood Lust left off, sounding like it could have been a deep cut plucked from the first record, a woozy, slithery main riff, that kills, the vocals sing-songy and crazy catchy, lots of swirling psychedelic organ, if anything a little bit darker than the first record, but that's most definitely not a bad thing at all. When we finally did get Mind Control, we were initially convinced that in fact it was much darker and more woozily psychedelic, opener "Mt. Abraxis" is a smoldering slither, all fuzz drenched minor key Sabbathian grooviness, and we were LOVING it, and were totally prepared for a whole record of dark, minor key, psych-metal doom, but then BAM, the song explodes into some seriously catchy, and almost proggy sounding poppiness, still fuzzed out and heavy, but crazy groovy and rocking and sorta FUN sounding if that makes any sense, but then before you know it, they slip right back into another classic doom-ic dirge. Which is pretty much the magic of Uncle Acid, balancing epic Sabbathy true doom groove, with what is essentially heavy popsyke, which results in what will no doubt be lots of folks fave heavy record of 2013, which it's fast becoming for us too. And it seems a strange coincidence that the new Uncle Acid would come out around the same time as the new Ghost, cuz the two bands definitely share some sonic DNA. Check out tracks like "Evil Love", which sounds exactly like Ghost's modern channeling of Blue Oyster Cult, but of course Uncle Acid crank that sound WAY up into something more lysergic and metallic, but at its core, it's still essentially classic hard rock for sure. Or there's "Follow The Leader" that almost sounds like a more metallic Spacemen 3, super droned out and psychedelic, and laced with slide guitar and a bit of twang, wrapped in clouds of hazy heady buzz, but seriously fuzzed out and dreamily druggy. And while we talk about how hooky and poppy Uncle Acid are, they do deliver the doom, it heaping sludgy spoonfuls, with plenty of tracks unfurling like long lost Sabbath B sides (the whole record way better Sabbath than the new ACTUAL Sabbath song we just heard), and it all culminates in the epic closer "Devil's Work", which seems to be the best fusion of all of the group's disparate influences, a droned out main riff, a dense metallic chug, that churns beneath some super poppy seventies classic rock sounding melodies, and eventually mutates into a hushed, dreamy, drifty, slow burn psych jam fade out. So fucking great. With this AND the new Ghost, it's a wonder we've managed to listen to anything else at all lately.

MPEG stream: Poison Apple
MPEG stream: Mt. Abraxas
MPEG stream: Evil Love
MPEG stream: Follow The Leader
MPEG stream: Devil's Work

Hell yeah, at last! When this now-semi-legendary album was first released by UK heavy psych doom metal specialists Rise Above in 2011, it came out in an ultra limited edition of just three hundred vinyl-only copies, which proved almost impossible to come by. That first edition sold out instantly and those lps started trading for seriously ridiculous amounts of money on eBay and elsewhere. Even though, really, who the heck were Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats? Well it wasn't just the cool band name generating a buzz, the music was awesome, as we later were able to ascertain. Eventually Rise Above did a repress, of which we were able to get a few, though those were expensive too and we were never able to get enough of 'em to actually list. But, we did figure out why this record was in such demand (as we'll discuss in more detail in a moment). We also learned that Blood Lust had also come out on compact disc, but oddly enough via a small Finnish label instead of Rise Above, and again we never were able to get enough of those to list, either. But we had hope that someday, somehow, we'd be able to review this for you, 'cause eventually most Rise Above stuff gets released in the USA by licensees Metal Blade, and while its been a damn long time, we're now pleased to, ta da, finally have Blood Lust on cd at a domestic price. Record Of The Week? You bet! So, what we thought we were in for, way back when all we knew about band was their name & label, was some lysergic sludgey doomy jamming, like maybe Electric Wizard (another Rise Above band) or UFOmammut. Which we would have been perfectly happy with, of course. But, instead, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats proved to be a lot more song-oriented and more melodic than we expected, with a kind of poppy '60s garage psych rock side to 'em, amidst their heavy fuzz-filled riffage. The singer (that's ol' Uncle Acid himself, natch, also on guitar in this power trio, and mellotron and synths too) croons his twisted tales of witchburning, black magic, and murder, in a languid whine, his voice nasally pinched and reverb effected, reminding us a bit of Kyle Thomas of aQ faves Witch (and King Tuff and Happy Birthday too by the way). His delivery lends a delicate, decadent touch to the band's brand of both despondent plod and swinging catchiness, able to render lines like "I was born a bitter man, no hopes or dreams / I get my kicks from torturing and screams / I lust for womens blood, and their evil ways / I twist my words to what the good book says" with sick sincerity -and- showmanship, in a way that is surprisingly not very much metallic, instead staying (despite the music's undeniable heaviness) more in the pop realm, though one obsessed with vintage horror films. These rollicking, but dread-infused tunes are further full of ripping fuzz guitar leads, and lumbering downer riffs. Without a doubt, doom originators Black Sabbath are a major factor in this band's sound, but they're doing something rather different with that particular inspiration than most do. And we're also reminded of some other British '60s/'70s proto-metallers like Stray, High Tide, T2, and May Blitz, who were quite heavy but psych-pop catchy as well. Perhaps very early, very psychedelic Alice Cooper could be added to Uncle Acid's roster of influences too, we're thinking of the way the song "Ritual Knife" marries a pounding tribal beat and urgently chugging ominous riffery with glorious bursts of shining melody come chorus time. One much more recent band that these guys also remind us of, is Swedish occult rock sensations Ghost, another act whose "pop side" is so effective as to possibly threaten their "metal cred" among the more closeminded. We'd also recommend Uncle Acid to fans of that other recent, equally retro stunner from Rise Above, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell. And, like last week's Record Of The Week by Golden Void, this has that laidback classic sounding '70s psychrock vibe, immediately familiar, though Uncle Acid comes across as much more dark and sinister to be sure. And lastly, fans of Witchcraft should pay attention - we'd rank this up there with that band's celebrated Rise Above debut, we're pretty sure this is gonna be considered a classic too. We're sooooooo glad they didn't just press only those 300 vinyl copies and leave it at that!! You will be too. This cd reissue includes a bonus track not on vinyl, which provides a nice coda to the record proper, relinquishing the fuzz guitar for acoustic strum and hand percussion, Uncle Acid doing their doom-pop-psych in a more folky style a la, say, Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex.

MPEG stream: I'll Cut You Down
MPEG stream: Curse In The Trees
MPEG stream: 13 Candles

Now available on domestic PICTURE DISC vinyl! Hell yeah, at last! When this now-semi-legendary album was first released by UK heavy psych doom metal specialists Rise Above in 2011, it came out in an ultra limited edition of just three hundred vinyl-only copies, which proved almost impossible to come by. That first edition sold out instantly and those lps started trading for seriously ridiculous amounts of money on eBay and elsewhere. Even though, really, who the heck were Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats? Well it wasn't just the cool band name generating a buzz, the music was awesome, as we later were able to ascertain. Eventually Rise Above did a repress, of which we were able to get a few, though those were expensive too and we were never able to get enough of 'em to actually list. But, we did figure out why this record was in such demand (as we'll discuss in more detail in a moment). We also learned that Blood Lust had also come out on compact disc, but oddly enough via a small Finnish label instead of Rise Above, and again we never were able to get enough of those to list, either. But we had hope that someday, somehow, we'd be able to review this for you, 'cause eventually most Rise Above stuff gets released in the USA by licensees Metal Blade, and while its been a damn long time, we're now pleased to, ta da, finally have Blood Lust on cd at a domestic price. Record Of The Week? You bet! So, what we thought we were in for, way back when all we knew about band was their name & label, was some lysergic sludgey doomy jamming, like maybe Electric Wizard (another Rise Above band) or UFOmammut. Which we would have been perfectly happy with, of course. But, instead, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats proved to be a lot more song-oriented and more melodic than we expected, with a kind of poppy '60s garage psych rock side to 'em, amidst their heavy fuzz-filled riffage. The singer (that's ol' Uncle Acid himself, natch, also on guitar in this power trio, and mellotron and synths too) croons his twisted tales of witchburning, black magic, and murder, in a languid whine, his voice nasally pinched and reverb effected, reminding us a bit of Kyle Thomas of aQ faves Witch (and King Tuff and Happy Birthday too by the way). His delivery lends a delicate, decadent touch to the band's brand of both despondent plod and swinging catchiness, able to render lines like "I was born a bitter man, no hopes or dreams / I get my kicks from torturing and screams / I lust for womens blood, and their evil ways / I twist my words to what the good book says" with sick sincerity -and- showmanship, in a way that is surprisingly not very much metallic, instead staying (despite the music's undeniable heaviness) more in the pop realm, though one obsessed with vintage horror films. These rollicking, but dread-infused tunes are further full of ripping fuzz guitar leads, and lumbering downer riffs. Without a doubt, doom originators Black Sabbath are a major factor in this band's sound, but they're doing something rather different with that particular inspiration than most do. And we're also reminded of some other British '60s/'70s proto-metallers like Stray, High Tide, T2, and May Blitz, who were quite heavy but psych-pop catchy as well. Perhaps very early, very psychedelic Alice Cooper could be added to Uncle Acid's roster of influences too, we're thinking of the way the song "Ritual Knife" marries a pounding tribal beat and urgently chugging ominous riffery with glorious bursts of shining melody come chorus time. One much more recent band that these guys also remind us of, is Swedish occult rock sensations Ghost, another act whose "pop side" is so effective as to possibly threaten their "metal cred" among the more closeminded. We'd also recommend Uncle Acid to fans of that other recent, equally retro stunner from Rise Above, Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell. And, like last week's Record Of The Week by Golden Void, this has that laidback classic sounding '70s psychrock vibe, immediately familiar, though Uncle Acid comes across as much more dark and sinister to be sure. And lastly, fans of Witchcraft should pay attention - we'd rank this up there with that band's celebrated Rise Above debut, we're pretty sure this is gonna be considered a classic too. We're sooooooo glad they didn't just press only those 300 vinyl copies and leave it at that!! You will be too. This cd reissue includes a bonus track not on vinyl, which provides a nice coda to the record proper, relinquishing the fuzz guitar for acoustic strum and hand percussion, Uncle Acid doing their doom-pop-psych in a more folky style a la, say, Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex.

MPEG stream: I'll Cut You Down
MPEG stream: Curse In The Trees
MPEG stream: 13 Candles

Another uber pricey 7" single from these much hyped UK psychedelic doomsters, their second from the band's most recent full length Mind Control, the A side here, "Mind Crawler", is a doozy (as is most of Mind Control really), a heavy psych, doom-pop groover, thick fuzzed out riffage, keening vocals buried in the mix, super tranced out and hypnotic, with a killer hook to boot. Not to mention a CRAZY video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW_GWB9VQCc But the real reason to pick this up is for the exclusive B side, a cover of Charlie Manson's "Get On Home", which in the hands of Uncle Acid becomes a bit more psychedelic, but ultimately, other than some added volume and amplification, doesn't stray to far from the original. Obviously SUPER limited, pressed on green transparent vinyl, and of course, ONE PER CUSTOMER!!!

OK, what would you think if we told you that this record is basically some white guy, sounds like he's in his forties, doing caffine fueled, stream-of-conciousness, foul-mouthed beat poetry backed by jazzy, exotic music? His intellectual macho rants are full of '60s references ("I know who killed Kennedy. It was Ladybird Johnson. She was the only one with the guts to do it.") and surreal stories (there's a whole story about yeti hunters) and other conspiritorial strangeness. He makes very little sense, talking his own brand of hep jive, spewing bile all the while. So the question is, is this a parody? Or really meant to be taken seriously? Well perhaps not the latter, since Uncle Jim is apparently Alan Bishop of the notoriously confusional Sun City Girls, who are on hand to provide that background music, along with others including Porest. Of course even if you convince yourself that it's some sort of joke, that doesn't mean it's that funny or that you'd want to listen to it. So maybe it's better to decide that this IS actual serious poetry and if you work hard enough to "get it" it'll be brilliant. Or it's just something for hardcore collectors of everything by Alvarius B, Sir Richard Bishop and Charles Gocher, though presumably you all already got the previously issued limited edition vinly version of this...

MPEG stream: Liberties
MPEG stream: Graduation Day

So I'm going to try and not gush too much. I don't want to come across like a 13 year old girl reviewing the newest N-Sync record. But it's kind of hard to be objective when you're trying to turn people on to one of your all time favorite bands. And Uncle Their debut, 'No Depression' was a furious amalgam of punk rock and country, with guitars on 10, crashing drums and some totally intense songs (check out the sound clips for 'Whiskey Bottle' and 'Graveyard Shift' from that record). They managed to capture a midwestern working man's hopelessness so perfectly that the songs spoke to you even if you lived in the city and had never even seen a tractor. Their second record 'Still Feel Gone' continued along the same lines but with a little less aggression and a little more melody. Their third record marked a big shift in their sound and direction, when they enlisted Peter Buck of R.E.M. to help them record a record of traditionals (Coal Miners songs and the like) as well as some acoustic (traditional sounding) originals (check out the sound clip for 'Fatal Wound'). Their fourth and sadly last record 'Anodyne' is the record where everything fell into place. The music was pefect. So was the production, and they were finally selling lots of records. A lot of folks criticise 'Anodyne' for being too professional and too polished, but it seems to me, that's where they were headed all along. Top rate players, a gorgeously lush production and probably the best songs of their career helped push them even further into the public eye (check out the sound clip for 'Chickamauga'). But unfortunately for us, that was to be it. The two main songwriters (who by that point essentially wrote their own songs and brought them completed to the band) just needed to follow their own muses. So Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt and now performs solo, and Jeff Tweedy went on to start Wilco, who are currently in major label hell with an finished record that the label stupidly deemed unreleasable. (The album in its entirety is available for download from Wilco's website, and reportedly over a hundred thousand people have downloaded it!) So while there -are- plans to eventually release their first three albums, those of you who have never heard Uncle Tupelo might want to pick this up, at least until the original albums are finally released. And those of you who, like me, are Uncle Tupelo obsessives, will find plenty of reasons to own this (two bonus tracks, a demo and a thouroughly Tupelo-ized version of the Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' as well as loads of photos and liner notes). And anyone who is at all into "alt. country" and listens to the Palace Brothers, and Songs:Ohia and Red Red Meat and Califone really owes it to themselves to check out Uncle Tupelo. You won't be sorry. And if you decide to heed our advice and look for the full albums, Uncle Tupelo's last record, 'Anodyne' , their last and perhaps best, -is- still available and we can not recommend it highly enough.

RealAudio clip: Whiskey Bottle
RealAudio clip: Graveyard Shift
RealAudio clip: Fatal Wound
RealAudio clip: Chickamauga
RealAudio clip: I Wanna Be Your Dog

The late great Uncle Tupelo's fourth album is my (Windy, and Andee's too!) favorite. It's SO AMAZING, the perfect marriage between country and rock. Dare I say that even Gram Parsons would agree! Despite the fact that Anodyne, originally released in 1993, was Tupelo's major label debut and everyone was nervous that it would suck, somehow everything came together and they recorded their most mature and perfect album (and that's sayin' a lot since their first three records are also stellar). Artistic differences eventually broke up the band, with Jeff Tweedy going on to form WILCO and Jay Farrar forming SON VOLT. But listen, if you're a fan of either of those two groups but *haven't* heard Uncle Tupelo yet, do yourself a favor. Ditto if you're a fan of "no depression" style Americana -- most of today's bands will point to Uncle Tupelo as main inspirations. This record is absolutely classic in flavor, staying power, talent and songwriting. Farrar's downtrodden and minor key heartstring-tuggers alternate with Tweedy's lighter ditties; upbeat fiddle-led numbers are nestled amongst slower tunes. And everywhere is the undeniable tug of the bittersweet to give it incredible depth. I have been listening to this album probably every week for the last ten years and have never gotten tired of it. Lyrics! Five extra tracks: a Farrar tune, a Tweedy song from 2003(?), and a Waylon Jennings cover; plus live renditions of "Truck Drivin' Man" and "Suzy Q." MPEG Download: "Slate" [/audio/tupeloslate.mp3] MPEG Stream: "Slate" [/audio/tupeloslate.m3u]

MPEG stream: Slate
MPEG stream: Acuff-Rose

Finally after years of waiting, the Uncle Tupelo back catalog gets the deluxe reissue treatment it so deserves. Belleville, Illinois' favorite sons almost single handedly made it okay for indie rockers to don sparkly jean jackets and publicly profess their love of all things Byrds and Gram Parsons, creating in the process a genre that would carry on their proud tradition to this day. From the gorgeously-twangy-country-intertwined-with-raucous-punk-rock of their early days to the lush-and -perfect-Nashville-via-Midwestern-backwater -country/bluegrass of their final years, no one can hold a candle to Farrar and Tweedy, the dynamic duo whose different (but equally compelling) songwriting styles and dramatically disparate voices helped form the foundation for one of the greatest rock bands (or country rock bands) of the last decade. Record number three was the record where it all changed. Where Uncle Tupelo became first and foremost, a country outfit. Many thought this was a one off experiment, but as their next and final record Anodyne would prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, they were country through and through. Produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck March 16-20 was all acoustic and sounded like a record of traditionals, which it sort of was, even though only five tracks were -actually- traditionals. The originals here are so perfect, timeless and...well.. traditional sounding, with Farrar and Tweedy spinning tales of coal mines, railroads, Satan, murders, and that new fangled atomic power. Mandolin, banjo, pedal steel, slide guitar, violin, accordion and even bouzouki all added to the gorgeous stripped down sound of a band not only at their peak, but so obviously having fun, playing songs, and the kind of songs, they truly loved. Lots of photos and liner notes. Bonus tracks: 'Take My Word' from a 1992 7", 'Moonshiner (Live 1/24/93)' from a 1994 compilation, and 4 unreleased tracks from 1991 demo recorded in a kitchen: "Grindstone (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)', 'Atomic Power (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)', the Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)' and 'The Walton's (Theme) (1991 Longview Farm Acoustic Demo)'.

MPEG stream: Fatal Wound
MPEG stream: Wipe The Clock
MPEG stream: Black Eye
MPEG stream: Moonshiner

Finally after years of waiting, the Uncle Tupelo back catalog gets the deluxe reissue treatment it so deserves.Belleville, Illinois' favorite sons almost single handedly made it okay for indie rockers to don sparkly jean jackets and publicly profess their love of all things Byrds and Gram Parsons, creating in the process a genre that would carry on their proud tradition to this day. From the gorgeously-twangy-country-intertwined-with-raucous-punk-rock of their early days to the lush-and -perfect-Nashville-via-Midwestern-backwater -country/bluegrass of their final years, no one can hold a candle to Farrar and Tweedy, the dynamic duo whose different (but equally compelling) songwriting styles and dramatically disparate voices helped form the foundation for one of the greatest rock bands (or country rock bands) of the last decade. This is the record that started it all. Alt-country, No Depression or whatever it's called these days. Named for a Carter Family song and influenced as much by punk rock as folk and bluegrass, No Depression is a wild, rollicking, twangy, thrashy record full of amazing hooks, mournful melodies, and kick ass rock and roll. Never had a rock band managed to make country so cool (the Byrds came close, but I mean a ROCK band, a PUNK ROCK band!), opening up the ears of indie rockers everywhere. Perfectly captures the teen angst and dreary hopelessness of rural midwestern farm life, that no-way-out resignation mixed with just a dash of maybe-I-won't-end-up-like-my-folks-poor-and-miserable. It also introduced us to the amazing songsmithery of Farrar and Tweedy, whose tunultuous partnership would only last a few more years, but who would separately continue on (Wilco, Son Volt) to define the genre they practically invented. Tons of photos and liner notes. Bonus tracks: The vinyl only bonus track 'Left In The Dark' from the Anthology 2lp, 'Won't Forget' from the A Matter Of Degrees soundtrack (terrible movie, great soundtrack!), a kick ass cover of the Byrds' 'Sin City' from an old 7", a live acoustic version of 'Whiskey Bottle', a 1988 demo of 'No Depression', and 'Blues Die Hard' from the Colorblind And Rhymeless 1987 demo.

MPEG stream: Graveyard Shift
MPEG stream: Factory Belt
MPEG stream: Whiskey Bottle

Finally after years of waiting, the Uncle Tupelo back catalog gets the deluxe reissue treatment it so deserves. Belleville, Illinois' favorite sons almost single handedly made it okay for indie rockers to don sparkly jean jackets and publicly profess their love of all things Byrds and Gram Parsons, creating in the process a genre that would carry on their proud tradition to this day. From the gorgeously-twangy-country-intertwined-with-raucous-punk-rock of their early days to the lush-and -perfect-Nashville-via-Midwestern-backwater -country/bluegrass of their final years, no one can hold a candle to Farrar and Tweedy, the dynamic duo whose different (but equally compelling) songwriting styles and dramatically disparate voices helped form the foundation for one of the greatest rock bands (or country rock bands) of the last decade. This is record number two and for a lot of folks was sort of a let down. Seems to be the fans' least favorite, but with lots of records like that, being the least listened to, it can offer all sorts of treasures when re-assessed. This was definitely a transition record, moving away from their punk rock roots and towards the traditional country they so obviously loved. Consequently, it sort of hovers right in the middle, feeling a little lost. Blunting the thrashy twangy punk they had perfected on their debut and kind of muddying the country/bluegrass trail they were preparing to blaze. My biggest problem was that Jeff Tweedy seemed to step up and take on a lot of the lead vocals. And at that point, Tweedy's whine-y, reedy vocals were only present to be a counterpoint to Jay Farrar's gorgeous whiskey soaked drawl. Since then, I've grown to appreciate Tweedy's vocals a lot more and can appreciate the dual vocalists and how they perfectly complemented each other. But the songs are still here in spades. Catchy and miserably defiant and hopelessly hopeful and just totally great. The fuzzy grungy opener 'Gun' is still one of my favorites. Again lots of photos and liner notes. Bonus tracks: 'Sauget Wind' from an 1992 7", a fierce cover of The Soft Boys' 'I Wanna Destroy You', and three unreleased demos: 'Watch Me Fall', 'Looking For A Way Out (fast version), and 'If That's Alright (fast acoustic version)'.

MPEG stream: Gun
MPEG stream: Still Be Around
MPEG stream: Watch Me Fall

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Warehouse find! The final record from Finnish black blasters Uncreation's Dawn (who have since changed their name and continued on as Uncelestial), released way back in 2006, just discovered a small handful of these lurking in the back, and fans of all things Finnish black metal and Northern Heritage will find much to dig here. After a strange, old timey lo-fi piano intro, the band immediately lurch into action, the first track a super distorted, buzzy and black pound, the sound thick and super heavy, the vocals a monstrous bellow, the riffs gnarled and minor key, the sound a buzzing chugging midtempo lumber, the arrangement super dynamic, with the band shifting from relentless pound, to woozy start / stop breakdowns, eventually exploding into full on frenzied blasting, only to slip right back into a doomy plod. And from there on out, the band continue to unfurl a wild tangle of swirling blackness, from dense almost Deathspell style churn, to more d-beat sounding punkish pound, to midtempo blackened doom, to wild furious black thrash crunch. Only got a few of these...

MPEG stream: Lifeless Dominion Opens
MPEG stream: Death's Tyranny

Hammers Of Misfortune fans strap yourselves in and get ready to bask Under Satan's Sun! A while back, drummer and leader of the No Neck Blues Band, Dave Nuss, emailed us wanting to send us a copy of his new band's first record. He thought it was definitely something we would dig. We got it, threw it on, and were blown away. Big time! Classic, epic, blackened TRUE METAL, that definitely sounded a bit like local operatic metal heroes Hammers Of Misfortune. Well, we would later discover that not only did the band indeed LOVE and draw some of their inspiration from Hammers (one band member even sports a HoM shirt in the band photo), but they were in fact fronted by singing sisters from right here in San Francisco. Weird. But it sort of makes sense. SF's fertile metal scene has not only spawned Hammers, but helped nurture East Coast transplants Slough Feg, as well as spawning a whole bunch of bad ass metal bands like Weakling, Ludicra, Leviathan, Horn Of Dagoth, Asunder, we could go on and on. Needless to say, there is no wanting for metal around these parts. SO it makes perfect sense that two sisters from SF might go digging for likeminded metalheads in NYC. Who would have thought that some of those kindred spirits would be Nuss of No Neck and legendary underground painter Arik Mooonhawk Roper among others...? Regardless of who or why or how, this is simply some seriously epic blackened true metal. Plenty of Sabbathisms abound, the riffs go from buzzing and blasting, to classic eighties crunch, with leads soaring, and some awesomely tangled Maidenesque harmonies, the drumming is powerful but simple. The songs are subtly catchy, epic and majestic, mysterious and classic. But as with most metal bands, it comes down to two things, the riffs, which here pretty much rule, and the vocals, which Under Satan's Sun have down cold, how could they not? Two female metalheads, one able to emit a hellish demonic screech, both able to croon in perfect harmony, occasionally weaving haunting Comus-y parts that totally captivate.� The best tracks are the ones that sort of push the boundaries, taking the obvious Maiden / Sabbath / Hammers influences, and adding weird proggy workouts and haunting seventies folkiness, "Stand Up And Fight" and "Confessing A Murder" being the best examples, both total classics, the perfect blend of classic eighties metal, seventies style British electric folk, and modern blackened buzz.� This should definitely hold you over until the next Hammers disc. Or at least until the next Under Satan's Sun record...

MPEG stream: The Fiery Angel Of Desire
MPEG stream: Only You
MPEG stream: Stand Up And Fight

First off, how amazing is the name Stellar Auditorium for a label. Heck, for anything. We only recently discovered this label, who have released a handful of cd-r's so far, all of them amazing, and all of them gorgeously packaged, so much so we almost wonder why they only make cd-r's, as the packaging is so deluxe and fantastic, full color digpaks, multiple inserts, the whole nine yards, but thankfully, even the cd-r's are pretty swank, black on one side, and professionally printed on the other. Anyway, none of that would make a difference if the music wasn't worthwhile, but as we mentioned above, it most certainly is. Elsewhere on this list you'll find one of the new Procer Veneficus releases, also on Stellar Auditorium (love even typing it!) and then this, the first full length from Swedish black metal horde Underjordiska. Thanks to our pal Ben at Amoeba for turning us to these guys, took us a while, hadn't been able to track down actual copies of the record, until in a strange bit of serendipity, the label just contacted us out of the blue, so now we finally have this to list, and holy shit is it amazing. Minutes in and we can already tell the aQ black metal hordes will lose their shit for this stuff. Don't know anything about these guys, they're not even on Encyclopedia Metallum, all we know is they're from Sweden, and they totally destroy. After a gorgeously creepy intro, all ominous drones and high end short wave interference sonic squiggles, the first song kicks in, an incredibly lush, thick wall of warm buzz, shoegazey for sure, but more sort of washed out sounding, sepia toned, bleary and blurry, the drums lost in a distorted haze, and the vocals, harsh and hateful, but not so abrasive and jagged, still weirdly warm and thick, like little bursts of pink noise, barely shaped into words, the riffing is warped and warbly, slipping into strange atonal shapes, but always snapping back into frenzied blasts of soaring riffage, and soaring is pretty right on the mark, this stuff is totally epic and majestic, like a lo-fi grim and raw black metal Godspeed. That same sort of sweeping expansive vibe, but all wound up into these streaks of buzzing blackness. The tracks are repetitive and hypnotic, the band locking onto a riff and creating these lush tranced out buzzscapes, but those riffs are super fluid, it almost sounds like someone changing the tape speed, as the riffs sort of slip and slither, bend and change shape, the songs follow, like listening through some sort of funhouse mirror, sometimes the buzz is so thick and blurred, that the song seems to disappear in a cloud of effects and cymbal swells and processed vox, like noise, but soft noise, soft black noise, spread out over riffs and beats, only their shadows visible through the wall of sound. The final track is easily the most epic, and not just because of its length (18+ minutes), it almost sounds like some sort of anthem, totally majestic, and melodic, but like the rest of the record, underneath layer after layer of buzz and whir and haze, slowly transforming into something more noisy and off kilter, more warped, the vocals ghostlike and abstract, the drums gone, swallowed by the buzz, the riffing modulating and flitting from note to note, almost like someone flipping a switch, jarring and off kilter and really really weird, but somehow all that buzz smooths it into something strangely dreamlike (and a tad bit nightmarish), before everything drops out, and the record drifts off in a hazy, ethereal fog. So awesome. Can't believe we had never heard these guys before. Anyone into the black, the buzz, the blur, the blissed out and the blast, this is IT.

MPEG stream: Ogonstjarna
MPEG stream: Uppenbarelsen

Third release we've carried from the Stellar Auditorium, and we said it before, but it bears repeating, how awesome a label name is that. Totally evokes some sort of black metal lazer light show, the kind we used to sneak into when we were kids, but way more grim and buzzy and space-y. Anyway, a few lists back we reviewed the latest from psychedelic black metal one man band Procer Veneficus, and a mysterious Swedish outfit called Underjordiska, whose full length Dystert Vilse we could barely keep in stock. Their sound a warped blend of epic sweeping shoegazey buzz and warbly and raw soft black noise, that definitely hit the spot for all of us outsider black metal obsessives. So we managed to get a second release from those guys, this one a split with the more ambient but equally dark and mysterious Spectral Lore, who just so happens to be the guy who runs Stellar Auditorium, and whose haunting drift definitely compliments Underjordiska's blown out buzz. Although here even moreso, as Underjordiska try something a little more abstract and ambient. Once again, incredible packaging, full color, very striking, but still weirdly, the disc itself remains a cd-r, this one limited to 300 copies, each one hand numbered. Two tracks, one from each band, both 30 minutes plus! Underjordiska is up first, their track begins with the sound of waves crashing, gulls, all beneath a delicate drift of clean guitar, the sounds of the surf soon fade out, while in their place a strange assemblage of buzz and hiss, and spacey effects all swirl and swoop, the sound growing more metallic, more alien, more chaotic, before slipping back into a swirling morass of churning black low end, and softly muted buzz, a droning crawl, laced with bits of crunch and rumble, becoming gradually more and more minimal, until the sound is all hushed and delicate and almost static, barring some delicate melodic fragments drifting through the darkness. The band build on that minimal foundation, finally adding guitars, and creating a sort of stop motion doom-ic black buzz, layers of droning buzzing guitars seeming to hover and slowly drift into one another playing out some grim melody, but very very very slowly, before the guitars slip away, and the track ends with an almost choral sounding outro. Spectral Lore start out with some downtuned guitars, a noisy bit of distorted riffage, making us think for a moment that we may have gotten the two tracks mixed up, but soon those guitars are smoothed out into a deep subterranean crawl, distant shimmering strings, deep low end drift, with the guitars resurfacing here and there, offering up a squall of crumbling crunch or jagged chug, before slipping back under, the distant drones sounding like some sort of Italian horror soundtrack, getting weirdly Goblin-y at one point, before dissipating in a flurry of delay and reverb, leaving just overtones, overlapping and layered, whirring and effulgent, giving way to a weirdly jazzy mini-jam outro, set in a slowly fading sea of hiss, that becomes the sound of water once again, revisiting the first few moments of the Underjordiska track. Both groups offer up truly strange sonic journeys, mysterious, haunting, otherworldly, meditative and tranquil, but unstable, unpredictable, crafting long stretches of dark ambience, muted shoegazey guitars, deep cavernous drones, crumbling blackened riffage, hushed shimmer, all twisted and transformed, and woven into these mesmerizing alien landscapes...

MPEG stream: Part I
MPEG stream: Part II

ATTENTION LOVERS OF INSANE, DAMAGED, DEMENTED BLACK METAL!!! It's that time again. Another bizarre and fantastically fucked release to blacken your soul and your heart. This German outfit are obviously channeling the spirit of Burzum and Abruptum, but have also inadvertently conjured up some Benighted Leams and some Dead Reptile Shrine, and the result is completely bafflingly brilliant. A single half hour track, an abstract soundscape of stumbling plodding caveman doom drumming, weird warped downtuned riffing, every available space filled with squealing feedback, while above it all some of the most demented howling anguished falsetto vocals ever, a sort of Weakling meets Bethlehem meets Silencer. A lurching plodding blackened doom, the feedback everywhere combined with the tempo almost reminds us of Eyehategod. So if you can imagine some sort of abstract, ambient, slow motion, black metal, doom sludge you'll get at least an idea of what freaked out grim and frosty otherworld these guys inhabit. If you dig ANY of the above mentioned bands, we shouldn't have to tell you, but we will: this is absolutely essential.

MPEG stream: Untitled (excerpt 1)
MPEG stream: Untitled (excerpt 2)

This killer two band tag team of weirdo whatthefuck outsider Finnish black metal, previously only available on (out of print) vinyl, NOW ON CD!! Here's what we had to say about this split when we first reviewed the 12": The return of our favorite Finnish black metal weirdos Ride For Revenge, who really are barely even black metal, and actually hardly metal, but they are definitely weird, and this latest epic jam definitely does nothing to convince us otherwise. Beginning the ridiculous (and best ever!) title: "Ridiculed By Ladies Of The Moon", the song begins with a long stretch of warbly synth drone, laced with feedback, slowly undulating, while in the background sounds clank and clatter, sounding either like someone building a robot or someone making dinner, this goes on for a while until BLAM, the drums kick in, the synthy/electronic buzz is joined by HEAVY buzzy bass, and the track is transformed into a stumbling bass heavy dirge, the drums super distorted, which is especially noticeable on the bizarre fills, then the vocals, and awesome alien croak, sick and sinister and totally fucking nuts, the song pounds away, the sound gradually becoming a sort of dirgey space goth doom, dramatic and demented, and then there's the last stretch a wild final few minutes, the drums gone haywire, totally chaotic, the buzz intensified, wreathed in squiggles of white noise, and the sonorous clang of metal on metal, either some distant bells, or more likely, the pots and pans from the above mentioned kitchen being hurled about, a twisted and baffling finish to another incredible warped chunk of sonic weirdness from these guys. Which is a lot to live up to for Undor, who decide to not try to outweird RfR, but instead, offer up a sort of sonic analogue, a stretched out midtempo jam, that sounds like just drums and guitar, the guitar riffing away, but occasionally spiraling into some weird bit of atonal squiggle, or slippery abstract melody, or a brief bit of shred, but always returning to the stumbling, lumbering, lurching main rhythm/riff. The vibe is a bit mournful, at times it sounds a bit like Hypothermia crossed with Varghkoghargasmal, the vocals pushing it over the top, a wild hysterical shriek, that in some weird way balances the slightly more measured tone of the rest of the track. But only slightly.

MPEG stream: Sanguis Sacer (Excerpt)
MPEG stream: Ridiculed By The Ladies Of The Moon (Excerpt)

For some bands, "in the red" is just studio/recording jargon for distortion, volume, overload... and surely so it is for New York doom metal juggernaut Unearthly Trance on this, their second long-player. But we're guessing that with the title In The Red they're also referring in the abstact to zones of extremity -- aesthetic, emotional, philosophical. In The Red is their trip through (or, at least, to) Hell, as they see it, and embrace it. For those that haven't heard UT's previous album Season Of Seance, Science Of Silence we should explain that they're a trio (although "feedback" could almost be a fourth member) fully aligned with the likes of Eyehategod, Khanate, Cavity, and Corrupted. Their songs are leaden dirges, with riffs like anvils dragged by snails to a precipice, to be dropped into the abyss. The singer's throat-torn vocals are devoted to unholy blasphemies. He croaks lines like "the trident guides me through the storm" like he means it. Another lyric: "I hear flowing lava". We do too. Evil hot, glowing red, molten heaviness, slowly flowing...

MPEG stream: Penta(grams)
MPEG stream: In The Red

Great title, that. Try saying it ten times fast. Anyway, this debut from New York's Unearthly Trance is something that we've been waitin' for ever since we witnessed their solid set opening for Electric Wizard and Sons of Otis a year or so ago. Dirgey and ugly doom metal, y'know, the kind of thing that makes our hair hard. They were good then and so is this album, lovingly co-produced and mixed (and graphically designed) by like minded lost soul Stephen O'Malley of SUNN0))), Khanate, and Burning Witch infamy. And yes, this sounds A LOT like O'Malley's Khanate in particular -- the "vokills", the feedback, the mammoth tarpit mogadon [insert additional heavy n' slow metaphor here] riffage. Which means it also sounds a lot like those grandads of the sludgecore scene, Eyehategod. Definitely music of the bat-bitten, wrist-slittin', hard drugs not-quittin' variety. No shittin'. Compared to Khanate, though, UT are a bit more "rock n' roll" at times, and also specialize it what we can only call the "march of doom"! Oh, and for additional chills (and thoughtful life advice) they cop some lyrics from ol' Mr. Crowley...

MPEG stream: Raised By Wolves
MPEG stream: Mass Of The Phoenix

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Now on vinyl, and a beautiful gatefold to boot!! Great title, that. Try saying it ten times fast. Anyway, this debut from New York's Unearthly Trance is something that we've been waitin' for ever since we witnessed their solid set opening for Electric Wizard and Sons of Otis a year or so ago. Dirgey and ugly doom metal, y'know, the kind of thing that makes our hair hard. They were good then and so is this album, lovingly co-produced and mixed (and graphically designed) by like minded lost soul Stephen O'Malley of SUNN0))), Khanate, and Burning Witch infamy. And yes, this sounds A LOT like O'Malley's Khanate in particular -- the "vokills", the feedback, the mammoth tarpit mogadon [insert additional heavy n' slow metaphor here] riffage. Which means it also sounds a lot like those grandads of the sludgecore scene, Eyehategod. Definitely music of the bat-bitten, wrist-slittin', hard drugs not-quittin' variety. No shittin'. Compared to Khanate, though, UT are a bit more "rock n' roll" at times, and also specialize it what we can only call the "march of doom"! Oh, and for additional chills (and thoughtful life advice) they cop some lyrics from ol' Mr. Crowley...

MPEG stream: Raised By Wolves
MPEG stream: Mass Of The Phoenix

Herewith the third visitation from New York doom-dirge demons Unearthly Trance. Like their previous two blackened death marches, The Trident drags listeners down into the depths of a dark, hellish place and leaves them there to dwell! In comparision to their past efforts, though, this one is somehow, amidst the mire of punishing doom distortion, more tuneful -- at least in the vocals, which venture into real, "clean" singing at times. We can still describe Unearthly Trance as a militarized, motorheaded version of Khanate or Eyehategod, but we're now also reminded of the relative melodicism of such bands as Today Is The Day and Acid Bath. So don't worry, Unearthly Trance are still safely ensconced within the inner circles of Hell on The Trident. Imagine, maybe, a really depressive and negative, black metal Pelican? The Trident wielded by UT digs deep, leaving scars in the psyche the way the passing of an ancient glacier does to the landscape...though they aren't always, just sometimes, paced that slow. A definite dooOOOOooom recommendation.

MPEG stream: Permanent Ice
MPEG stream: The Air Exits, The Sea Accepts Me

Just one glance at the cover of this 7" should send most doom obsessives into an involuntary frenzy, the weird black and white washed out image, the twisted barely legible writing, so distinctive and immediately recognizable, but this is not in fact a lost record or weird reissue from New York doom legends Winter, but is in fact, the next best thing, two contemporary outfits, tackling their favorite Winter tunes, an homage / tribute to a criminally under appreciated band, especially considering that their sound predicted pretty much all the slow and low heaviness going on these days, and that the sound, and most of the bands that practice it, would sound a whole lot different if it wasn't for these guys, whether they know it or not. Up first are long time aQ faves Unearthly Trance, who add their own twist but don't drift too far from the original, lumbering, lurching, plodding crusty doom sludge bliss, a filthy midtempo plod, peppered with bursts of double kick drumming, guttural vox, and of course twisted tarpit guitar buzz. UK sludge beasts Volition also don't mess with Winter's sound all that much, unfurling a blackened and dense bit of sprawling doom, that more than classic ultra doom, sounds more like a grindcore record played at 16rpm. Both sides rule, essential modern megadoom, and if you've yet to discover the dismal joy of Winter, maybe these two tracks will convince you to track some of that shit down. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES, each one hand numbered, and these are the last copies we'll be able to get...

We have been massively obsessed with the mysterious doom duo Trollmann Av Ildtoppberg. Two musical cavemen, one wielding some sort of primitive keyboard, the other a bass tuned so low it sounds like the tectonic plates slipping. Together they weave a sprawling and expansive world of minimal sludge, an epic slow motion doom crawl, equal parts Skepticism, Thergothon, SUNNO))) and Earth. Glacial riffs that slither and lurch, moving so slow they seem to almost be standing still. The keyboards adding the occasional melodic flourish to the duo's black hole dirges. So why would the two mysterious members of Trollmann, Belegur and Thundarr, masters of "Cosmic keys to gates unknown" and "Rumblings Of Doom, Prophecies Of Times To Come" respectively, start a new band, with the tongue twistingly Lovecraftian monicker Ungl'Unl'rrlh'Chchch, and with the exact same members? Well how about if the glacial doomic trudge of Trollmann was just NOT slow enough, NOT low enough, what if the two members wanted to jettison melody completely, and perform strange magickal rituals with low end sound, conjuring up vibrations of doom, from deep within the center of the earth. A huge booming, cavernous, resonant rumble rife with overtones and subtle sonic shadings. A doom metal Phill Niblock if you will. Simple tones, distorted and murky, stretched into huge expanses of drone, allowed to slowly shift, various low end frequencies beating against each other. So glorious! Well, that explains the epic opening track, but then what about track two? A dreamy expanse of pointillist piano, wrapped in reverb, a flurry of twentieth century piano abstraction dropped into a shimmering swirl of empty space. Track three makes a bit more sense combining the two, little bits of piano melody subsumed by a massive wash of low end rumble, a wave of monstrous drones, dense and multilayered, strange monk like chants buried in the roiling murk, before a haunting high end melody surfaces becoming more and more intense, building and building into a sort of Birchville style ur-drone. The ten minute 4th track is another low end ritual, this time a simple rhythmic throb anchors a shimmering thrum, beneath which strange vocals hum and murmur, a deep dark and very ancient sounding sonic ritual for sure. Finally, the record closes with the title track, a brief blast of doomdronedirge wrapped in white hot sheets of coruscating feedback, a snarling squall of hiss and fuzz, sizzling and buzzing, a blinding ball of sonic fire with a massive black hole center. All bow before the mighty and mystical low end lords of Ungl'Unl'rrlh'Chchch!!

MPEG stream: Deep Engulfing Ancient Evil Chambers
MPEG stream: Azathoth

According to the *well documented* liner notes, this album was originally released on cassette in South East Asia in 1982. The The music on the disc is classic Hot Air material though: quirky and humorous electronica, squeaks, farts and irreverence (thumbs in the face to the pretensions of high brow electronica abound.) The disc starts off with a field recording of insects buzzing on a lonesome highway and then goes into some ping pong ball bouncy electronica with ersatz-Asian melodies that almost sounds like an attempt to imitate Burmese Pat Wiang (a melodic circular set of drums that sound like rototoms). Included also are a lot of really cheesy gamelan-esque samples and synth sounds in to boot. The end result is audio tourism where the tourist never even leaves home, but just comes up with a fictional vacation. Our mysterious tour guides Obeng & Jalan (most certainly Matt Wand -- we're making an "ass" of "u" and "me" here that it's Mr. Wand behind this) have produced some wickedly funny /possibly offensive electronic fuckery. Hot Air has released this mini cd as part of their "Hot Air Global Education Series" in cooperation with "The Hotairian Institute".

RealAudio clip: Dada Besar, Kepala Kecil
RealAudio clip: Rabu: Sakit Tangani, Sabtu: Sakit Pantat
RealAudio clip: Menyelam Pakai Pipa Udara

Some of you may have heard of Unholy Cadaver. But a LOT of you have heard of Hammers Of Misfortune, San Francisco's best rock-operatic political power prog metal (and more) band, featuring members of Ludicra and (formerly) The Lord Weird Slough Feg, among others. Our own Andee's tUMULt label put out their first album, The Bastard, in 2001. That's been followed by three (or four, depending on how you count, 'cause one was a double!) albums for Cruz Del Sur and Profound Lore. Their entire discography was then recently reissued by Metal Blade, who also signed the band for a new, upcoming opus. Well, not quite their entire discography... 'Cause before The Bastard, Hammers Of Misfortune were known by another name - Unholy Cadaver. Who recorded an unreleased album back in 1997. They put out a rare demo cd-r at the time, with just three of that album's nine tracks on it, none of which sound like "demos" despite being recorded in the band's practice space. But until now, the entire hour-long recording - which includes a song called "Hammers Of Misfortune", by the way, a nearly 15 minute epic, all of side C here - has never been properly released. The always on top of it (when "it" is cult metal) Shadow Kingdom label has rectified that, and then some, with this limited, deluxe edition of what's essentially the real Hammers Of Misfortune debut, done as a double vinyl lp with cd version also included! This is where it all started, mastermind John Cobbett & Co.'s unusual, amazing mash up of epic / traditional stylings with "extreme" metal mayhem, with loads of guitar shred, dramatic dynamics, majestic bombast, and an influx of avant garde / black metal weirdness. Unholy Cadaver's line up consisted of Cobbett (guitars/vocals), Chewy Marzolo (drums), still the core of Hammers today. They enlisted several guests for the male and female "operatic" singing parts: Mike Scalzi (of Slough Feg), Erica Stolz (of Lost Goat), and Lorraine Rath (currently in Worm Ouroboros, formerly of The Gault), who also did the cover art and logo. In some sort of quid pro quo, Cobbett joined up for a stint in Slough Feg on 2nd guitar not long afterwards, and Scalzi stayed on with Hammers for their first three albums, playing guitar live as well as singing. The prototypical Hammers herky-jerky stop-start loud-soft songwriting style is already in full effect, incorporating glorious guitar harmonies and bludgeoning brutality both... with social commentary (and a sense of humor) hidden, or not so hidden, in the often allegorical fantasy lyrics. Signs of their origin in "abso-futurist" metalpunk band Thunderchip remain, both the presence of John's rasping black metallish (and guttural death metallish) vokills (which were dropped entirely after The Bastard), and seemingly silly (but actually serious) song titles/concepts like "Fuck The Galactic Police". John and Chewy also do clean, sorta chant like vocals on some of the tracks, presumably written/recorded before they had availed themselves of Mike's triumphant baritone, the inimitable sound of which you'll hear here, appropriately enough, on the aforementioned epic "Hammers Of Misfortune", that's where they really become Hammers Of Misfortune! Not that the rest of this doesn't sound like Hammers, it sure does, but the male-female mock-operatic thing utterly comes to the fore, on that tour-de-force of a track (which also features a surprising amount of profanity from Rath's "caged princess" character). We should also mention the final cut, all of side D, the nine-minute "Kloven Septum", which is more of an experimental, freaked out "noise" composition, but still metal. We expect the unexpected from 'em, but yet it's unlike much else in their discography, and actually we could do with a whole album of this, too! It and the other extreme metal aspects of Unholy Cadaver perhaps could be seen as feeding in to Cobbett's Ludicra project later on, as well. Eventually Janis Tanaka took over the female vocalist/bass player position from Erica, and with a solid, full band lineup instituted, they relegated these early recordings to the vault, changed the name (good call) and plunged ahead into forging The Bastard... but Unholy Cadaver's long lost album was definitely more than a warm up, hearing the whole thing now we wonder why it took so long for this to finally see the light of day. Considering that The Bastard happens to be our favorite of the Hammers albums, and this is what led up to it, a most welcome and highly recommended release! And we're guessing it's kind of limited, too. The packaging is quite fancy, a double gatefold lp, with one of the inside panels holding the compact disc version. There's also a 12"x12" insert on some sort of glossy photo-paper, with old b&w pictures of the band back then, complete lyrics, and new liner notes giving the history of UC/HoM. The cover features L. Rath's painting, originally used for the demo cd-r, bigger and better than before, 'cause it's now in full color. Oh and both the vinyl and the cd versions have been individually remastered! Nice work. Epically recommended!!!

MPEG stream: On This Final Night
MPEG stream: Unsheathe The Sword Of Blasphemy
MPEG stream: Hammers Of Misfortune

Finally, after nearly a decade, this long running Norwegian black metal horde release their very FIRST proper full length album, after a ton of demos and splits and eps and live records, and like those other releases, Ordo Servorum Satanae is a furious blast of primitive buzzing blackness, the production warped and woozy, the mix equally twisted, the vokills an inhuman croak, that builds to a demonic howl, WAY up in the mix, so much so that when the vocals are roaring, the music seems to blur into a low level background churn, but somehow it only seems to make the sound that much more fierce and fucked up. After a 2 minute intro, of gurgling voices and moaning low end thrum (bookended by an outro of whipping winds, rainfall and distant drones), the record is really only 4 tracks, clocking in at about 26 minutes, but even such a brief blast of blackness it surprisingly potent. The tracks are twisted epics, fusing loping classic metal gallop, to roiling grim blasts, lacing that black buzz with some angular atonal leads, and some cool layered stretches that elevate the sound to something massive and dense, but then just as quickly the sound will devolve into a sprawl of punkish pound, primitive and stripped down, those croaked demonic vox ever present, there's even what sounds like some cowbell buried in there occasionally. And there's some cool weird shit going on throughout, the crumbling distortion wreathed plod of the last few minutes of "Sin", weirdly psychedelic and atmospheric, or a tranced out stretch of "Inverted", which transforms into a weirdly propulsive lope, before exploding into a frenzied black blast. And while the sound is most definitely twisted, the production warped, and the various songs laced with all manner of experimental audio, at its core, the sound of Unholy Crucifix is raw, and primitive, and grim and is the perfect culmination of all the recordings that came before.

MPEG stream: Slayer
MPEG stream: Sin

The first release on Grindfreaks Records, the record label affiliated with the Grave record store in Osaka Japan, run by Takaho from Unholy Grave (but often manned by Chew, the drummer from Corrupted!) Grave only sells grind, grind and more grind (oh, and ok, a little hardcore and black metal), so what better way to launch the label than with the latest release from one of the longest running and most infamous Japanese grind bands of all time (and most prolific with nearly 70 releases, nearly all of them splits!!). Unholy Grave are going on nearly 15 years of grinding destruction, and they still sound as fierce, and fucked up as ever. And even though it's 2007, in the world of Unholy Grave, it still sounds like it's 1987. Falling somewhere between Napalm Death's Scum and Carcass's Reek Of Putrefaction, but filtered through their own Japanese grind filter, the sound of Unholy Grave is gloriously guttural, furiously fast, and ultra distorted, with some of the most bad ass riffs EVER, and everything sooooooooo completely in the red, occasionally the band blasts into full on Japanoise territory. At their fiercest, it's like sticking your head in a dryer full of rusty nails, a relentless barrage of crusty sludge and blown out brutal blasts. But the band does slow down here and there, into weird moshy grooves, super intense doomy stomps and tangled mathy breakdowns, but never for long, always returning to a super fierce, face melting white hot rrrrroooooaaaar. The vocals are all over the shop too, from hysterical shriek, to growling gurgle, nimbly balancing on a musical bed of jagged glass, everything battered and bloodied and so gloriously kick ass and heavy. Some of us have been listening to this NONSTOP since we got it... The booklet is awesome too, a full on old school punk rock collage of lyrics and slogans and clip art (including an obi of course!) and some seriously awesome art inside the tray card, a Russian leaflet, of which supposedly a million copies were distributed in 1941, with the legend: "GRINDCORE Against Terrorism" along side a Hitler moustachioed monkey behind bars, wearing an iron cross and a swastika armband... and in the corner the words "Gorilla Adolf", and in German: "Caution! Rabid!"�

MPEG stream: Confession
MPEG stream: Perigo Minasi
MPEG stream: Realities Of Terrorism
MPEG stream: Murderer
MPEG stream: Justice?

A while back we got a strange 'release' from this 'band' which consisted of a tape loop, in a tiny glass bottle, the music on the loop a snippet of old Norwegian oceanographic recordings, the bottle held shut with a small cork, and branded with Unholy Triforce's triangle logo. We never even got a chance to properly list and review it, as we mentioned it online and we sold out of all of the copies in a matter of hours (follow us on Twitter, people!). In keeping with Auris Aopthecary's M.O., that bottled tape loop was as much a musical are object as it was a proper release, and in that case specifically, probably more so. Which brings us to this, the latest high concept audio missive from this mysterious band, this one called Crucifiction, featuring a very brief audio accompaniment, which you can sample below, recorded onto a clear cassette tape, with the Unholy Triforce logo, housed in a clear tape case, each one hand etched with an upside down cross, and each one held shut with four NAILS, driven not just through the case, but through the tape itself. We're not sure how easy it would be to remove the nails to listen to the tape, but needless to say, that little detail might just be what makes this more art than music. Either way, it looks amazing, and we can't imagine a tape nerd who wouldn't treasure one of these, and give it a spot of honor on their tape shelf, it's intense and ominous and dangerous looking (and sounding actually), and thus, will require some extra packaging if you order if with other stuff, to keep that other stuff from also getting crucified. LIMITED TO 87 COPIES!!

MPEG stream: Excerpt

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Last list we reviewed one of two records released in 2009 by Oklahoman one man black metal horde Unhuman Disease (we still have a few copies left if you missed out), and here's the second, another crusty, vicious, filthy blast of super distorted black fury, drum driven big time (due in no small part to the fact that Unhuman Disease is former Thornspawn drummer Nocturnus Dominus), so much like Leviathan (another drummer), the rhythm is as important if not moreso than any other element. Of course present are the usual BM tropes, buzzing riffs, relentlessly pounding blast beats, screeched inhuman (or UNhuman) vox, but UD traffic in a sound that's mesmerizingly cyclical, repetitive, and hypnotic, droney and trancelike, the songs lock into a riff, and pound and pulse and throb relentlessly, extended stretches of total black buzz mesmer, woven within are plenty of subtle textural and melodic variations, but those subtle slow shifts only reinforce how totally hypnotic the overall sound is. The music of Unhuman Disease is not especially far out or fucked, but then it wasn't meant to be, it's raw, and furious, Burzumic for sure, definitely heavily indebted to the Norwegian elite, but with its own gnarled vibe, that makes Black Creations Of Satan its own uniquely Satanic black creation, and keeps it on heavy rotation in the homes of the most black hearted and black souled of aQuarians...

MPEG stream: Black Creations Of Satan
MPEG stream: Summoned In Fire

It's always interesting how the dispersion of music takes place. It's harder than one might think to get a record from artist, to fan. Case in point, the tons of Japanese customers who order records by Japanese artists from our store in the US, or the Europeans who order records from us that were released by labels in Europe. And of course we often find ourselves ordering records from overseas, by bands who live right here in the US, often right here in California. Which is sort of how we discovered Unhuman Disease, a killer USBM band from Oklahoma of all places, and who we had never heard of until we ordered their records from Black Hate over in Germany. It really doesn't matter in the long run, as long as the music gets to the people, so we're psyched to introduce folks to Unhuman Disease, even if we had to get to Oklahoma via Germany. Unhuman Disease is the one man BM project of Nocturnal, who is probably better know as the former drummer for Texan black metallers Thornspawn, but in Unhuman Disease, he whips up a seriously frenzied black blast of satanic fury. Into Satan's Kingdom is one of two UD full lengths released last year, and it's a killer, slipping deftly from hiss drenched blackened doom, to blasting frantic hyperspeed black buzz, to plodding midtempo Burzumic blackness, it's lo-fi and raw, grim and blown out, the whole record seems cloaked in a sonic haze that is definitely reminiscent of Striborg, with some distinctly Nordic moments of soaring majestic riffage, and even some weirdly melodic prettiness, but for the most part Unhuman Disease is for the corpsepainted true grim warriors, who want nothing more than to fill their caves with sick black buzz.

MPEG stream: Diabolic Devotion
MPEG stream: Calling Of Satan

Goddamn this record is beautiful. We mean seriously beautiful. So beautiful it sort of has us at a loss for words. Not at all what we were expecting as our last exposure to Unicorn was a split with Bastard Noise. But this is definitely one of the most beautiful, and satisfying ambient / drone records in recent memory. Delicate and barely there at times, thick and dense at others, but always imbued with this haunting sense of dread, and loss and loneliness. Hard to put a finger on, but the overall impression is one of longing, a melancholy sense of something missing. Very evocative. From glistening crystalline shimmers atop barely audible melodic drones, with distant freaked out guitars all hazy and indistinct, to a thick fuzzy whir over brief snippets of overheard conversations, to simple melodies constructed from distorted overblown tones, backward rhythmic swells, and high pitched cricket like skree, to gentle, sepia toned ambience beneath chiming melodies and more distant sonic wails. So completely haunting and mesmerizing. And that's just the music. The disc includes a series of short films that the music was composed to accompany, and when coupled with the images, it's totally breathtaking. Strangely decaying home movies, found footage, quite stark and simple, but visually emblematic of lost innocence, or a bitter longing for stolen youth, or just a series of slightly sad memories, set to a music that lays out the sorrow in a way that words never could.

MPEG stream: One
MPEG stream: Two

Montreal, Quebec has spawned a vast array of eclectic and eccentric artists - many being the more 'serious' and intellectual kind. However here comes a young 'n' spritely new indie rock combo called Unicorns to shake things up a little. They're a quirky jumble of ramshackle, tweaked twee fun. Gleefully lo-fi and full of woozy whimsy, they even have a Unicorns anthem of sorts ("I Was Born (A Unicorn)"! Imagine a kiddie-pop meeting of Olivia Tremor Control and Flaming Lips, and you might have some idea of the toothsome songs that make up Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? Now, that's not to say they've reached the wondrous heights or either of those pop greats, but they certainly show much potential, and offer up a good time while doing so. Kooky and charming!

MPEG stream: Child Star
MPEG stream: I Was Born (A Unicorn)

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Since the demise of Kyuss, we've been waiting for John Garcia, or any Kyuss alumni for that matter, to live up to the high standard their band set for desert/stoner/grunge rock. And this is about as close as anyone's come (excepting the 3 song Slo-burn ep of a few years back). Huge riffs, stretched out and sun baked, wailing low-mixed vocals, and some pretty catchy song writing. Definitely a step in the right direction, and a godsend for disenchanted Kyuss fans.

Ex 2nd Gen mainman Wajid Yaseen abandons his damaged hip hop in favor of damaged minimal glitch and drone. Noisy and weird and way abstract. Features guests Lydia Lunch, Alan Vega, Dalek and more. Cover art by infamous actionist Franko B.

[ aquarius records catalogue — U ]